JSW Steel Ltd has emerged as the sole bidder for Asian Colour Coated Ispat Ltd (ACCIL), forcing the lenders to consider more steps to garner a robust response for selling the assets of the bankrupt downstream steel company.
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW is the only company to have submitted a resolution plan for ACCIL, said two people familiar with the matter. Bidders had until 8 March to submit their offers.
The committee of creditors (CoC) of ACCIL is considering extending the deadline or starting a second round so as to invite more bids, a member of the CoC and one of the two people cited above said.
JSW is believed to have placed a bid in the ₹800-1,000 crore range, the second person said. ACCIL has outstanding debt of more than ₹5,000 crore.
“We’re disappointed with the number of bidders and the bid amount,” the second person said. “Banks are hoping to recover at least half of the outstanding dues through the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) process. The CoC will take a decision soon on what the next step shall be.”
ArcelorMittal is likely to show interest in ACCIL if its acquisition of Essar Steel goes through, the first person said.
NCLT Ahmedabad has approved ArcelorMittal’s bid for Essar Steel. This is currently being challenged by the erstwhile promoters of Essar Steel in higher courts. JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd, which had submitted an expression of interest for ACCIL initially, did not submit a final bid either.
Spokespersons for ArcelorMittal and JSW Steel declined to comment. JM Financial did not respond to emailed queries.
Kuldip Kumar Bassi of KK Bassi and Associates, the resolution professional for ACCIL, did not respond to emailed queries on whether there will be a second round of bidding.
ACCIL was part of the Reserve Bank of India’s second list of 28 defaulters that banks were to refer to insolvency court.
Source: Mint