Prince Mathews Thomas Moneycontrol News
JSW Steel may have emerged as the favourite to bag Bhushan Power & Steel, but the script may change yet again, as it has often happened in this race for the Delhi-based stressed company.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is slated to hear Tata Steel's petition on October 22. The Tata company had challenged National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) April order that had allowed Liberty House to submit its bid, post the deadline.
JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Liberty House are the three contenders for Bhushan Power & Steel. The stressed company's lenders had over two days - Monday and Tuesday - voted on JSW Steel's offer, which eventually received over 90 percent of the votes.
The hearing Hearing at the Appellate Tribunal could again bring a new twist to the auction if it uphelds Tata Steel's argument. This will also have a bearing on JSW Steel's bid.
The Sajjan Jindal-company had revised its bid in August, just before the lenders were to vote on Tata Steel's bid. JSW Steel bid Rs 19,700 crore, trumping the Rs 17,000-crore bid of Tata Steel. The revised bid was much higher than JSW Steel's first offer of Rs 11,000 crore.
While Liberty House has bid Rs 17,500 crore, lenders had asked for details on its financing, raising doubts on the offer from the London-based Group.
Voting JSW Steel's bid may have received 90 percent of the lenders' vote, but it doesn't stop Tata Steel and Liberty House revising their bids.
But that too will depend on the outcome of the October 22 hearing.
"They would first want to wait for what the Tribunal says before taking the next step," an executive from the industry said.
At the same time, legal experts said the Committee of Creditors (CoC), consisting of the lenders, will have the last say on the matter. "After the Essar Steel case, it is clear that all the power now lies in the hands of CoC," a senior counsel said.
The Supreme Court had asked Numetal and ArcelorMittal to clear dues to become eligible to bid for Essar Steel. This was against the order of the NCLAT, which had deemed Numetal's bid as eligible.
The CoC will now have to see to it that Numetal and ArcelorMittal clear the dues within the stipulated time of two weeks, and go ahead with the process.
If the NCLAT toes the line taken by Supreme Court - and thus reaffirming CoC's power to take decisions - it will clear the way for JSW Steel to bag Bhushan Power & Steel.
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