A dedicated bankruptcy court finalising the insolvency of Bhushan Power and Steel has asked the resolution professional (RP) to submit his stand by March 2 on opening the Liberty House bid that came in after the deadline for the debt-laden company had ended.
UK-based Liberty House is also keen to buy Bhushan Power and Steel, for which the Tatas have emerged the highest bidder at Rs 24,000 crore. The counsel for Tata Steel was also present at the hearing Monday at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and pushed for the rival bid to be not opened and considered. Tata Steel was represented by Abhishek Singhvi.
The next hearing is scheduled March 5. “The matter is in the courts. The tribunal has heard us, and the RP’s counsel and Tata’s counsel who intervened. The tribunal has deemed it fit that the respondents put their submissions on the affidavit, explaining the conduct of the insolvency process… We are hopeful that our bona fide will stand out,” a spokesperson of Liberty House said.
The Sanjeev Gupta-led metals company had emerged as a late bidder for Bhushan Power and Steel, the bid deadline for which ended February 8. However, the company wanted its late bid to be considered and had argued that it had a superior plan which should find favour with the creditors.
ET had reported last week that Tata Steel, with its bid of Rs 24,000 crore including an upfront cash payment of Rs 17,000 crore, is the lead bidder for the asset. However, it had laid down some conditions which were not acceptable to bankers following which it has been asked to revisit its terms.
