More global stressed assets investors eye Bhushan Steel

MUMBAI: Debt-laden Bhushan Steel Ltd, which has been referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency proceedings, has caught the eye of financial investors. According to at least two people aware of the developments, these include a joint Piramal Enterprses Ltd-Bain Capital Credit platform to invest in distressed assets, AION Capital, Oaktree Capital and Lone Star Funds.

“Of the various cases that have been referred to the NCLT under the insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, special situations investors such as Piramal- Bain, Aion, Oaktree and Lone Star have shown the strongest interest in Bhushan Steel,” said one of the persons cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to reporters.

Last week, Mint reported that Asia-focused special situations investor SSG Capital Management too had evinced interest in acquiring a stake in the company.

“Steel is the first sector which could see the first real deal among the 12 cases notified by RBI under stress. Bhushan steel, in particular, is seeing a lot of interest from financial investors,” said the first person mentioned above.

Bhushan Steel’s total debt was around ₹42,355 crore on March 31. The company has a steel production capacity of 5.6 million tonnes per annum and produces steel products such as hot rolled coil, galvanised coil and sheet, colour coated coils, high tensile steel strips, precision tubes and coated pipes amongst others. On July 26, NCLT allowed banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against Bhushan Steel, Mint reported.

According to the second person cited above, these funds are tracking the developments in the Bhushan Steel insolvency proceedings. “An interim resolution professional has been appointed and is in the process of assessing the claims of various financial and operational creditors. They are keenly following the process and will bid for the asset if an appropriate resolution plan is formalised,” he said.

Lone Star, Aion and Oaktree declined to comment.

Emails sent to Neeraj Singhal, promoter and chief executive officer of Bhushan Steel, were not answered.

“We do not comment on market speculation,” a spokesperson for Piramal group said.

Among the various financial investors keen on Bhushan Steel, Aion and SSG, in particular, are aggressively scouting the distress asset landscape for acquisition targets.