BIRLA, DALMIA IN RACE FOR BINANI CEMENT

Kumar Mangalam Birla and an investor group led by Dalmia Bharat are emerging as the lead bidders for Binani Cement, which is being sold under the insolvency process, sources said. Birla’s Ultra Tech Cement and the Dalmia Bharat consortium have each made cash offers of around ~60 billion ($936 million), they said.

Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla and an investor group led by Dalmia Bharat are emerging as the lead bidders for Binani Cement, being sold under the insolvency process, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Birla's Ultra Tech Cement and the Dalmia Bharat consortium have each made cash offers of around ~60 billion ($936 million), the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. As part of that, they have agreed to pay back secured lenders who are owed about ~40 billion, according to the people. Ultra Tech and the Dalmia Bharat consortium are among six suitors that submitted final offers, the people said.

The bids from Ultra Tech and Dalmia Bharat varied in the way they would address the ~25 billion owed to unsecured creditors, said the people. They also differed in the size of equity stake they offered creditors, one of the people said.

A new bankruptcy law designed to clear out distressed assets has set off a contest for more than ~4 trillion ($63 billion) of deals and has spurred interest from both foreign and domestic companies and funds. JSW Group, Heidelberg Cement AG and a consortium including local private equity firm True North and Ramco Cements also submitted final offers for Binani Cement, the people said.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Radhakishan Damani together made an offer, the people said. Dalmia Bharat is bidding with India Resurgence Fund, which is backed by Bain Capital Credit and local conglomerate Piramal Enterprises, the people said. JSW has also put in an aggressive bid, one of the people said.

Representatives for Ramco, True North and Ultra Tech declined to comment. Representatives for Binani, Dalmia Bharat, Jhunjhunwala, JSW, India Resurgence Fund and Heidelberg didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.