Let our 2nd bid for Essar be opened: Numetal to NCLAT
NEWDELHI: Numetal Ltd on Thursday asked the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to direct Essar Steel Ltd’s bankruptcy resolution professional to open its ₹37,000 crore bid made in the second round of auction for the debt-ridden steel maker. Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Numetal, informed the appellate tribunal that its second offer was “much higher” (than its first bid) and sought maximisation of asset value.
“Let the second bid be open..let there be competition”, Rohtagi said.
Apart from Numetal and Arcelormittal India Pvt. Ltd, Vedanta Ltd also participated in the second round of bidding, the court was informed.
The appellate tribunal allowed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Ahmedabad bench to extend the corporate insolvency resolution for Essar Steel, in case of pendency of appeal.
The resolution period deadline for Essar Steel is May 28.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Arcelormittal India, said the second round of bidding was “infructuous” as the company had already cleared the ₹7,000 crore debt for related companies Uttam Galva Steels Ltd and KSS Petron Pvt. Ltd, thus curing their disqualification from the first round of bidding. An NCLAT bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhyay was hear- ing a batch of cross-appeals concerning disqualified resolution plans by Arcelormittal and Numetal for Essar Steel.
On April 19, the NCLT Ahmed- abad bench had set aside the first round of bidding for Essar Steel, on the ground that the committee of creditors and the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) did not follow the procedure prescribed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The tribunal, however, allowed the two final resolution applicants—arcelormittal and Numetal—to cure their ineligibility under Section 29A.
While Arcelormittal was disqualified for its relation to debt ridden Uttam Galva and KSS Petron, Mauritius-based Numetal, was disqualified for being indirectly held by Essar promoters, the Ruia family.