A bankruptcy court in Mumbai has approved Finquest Financial Solutions’ resolution plan for Ballarpur Industries (BILT), the flagship paper-manufacturing company of the Thapar Group that owes lenders more than `3,000 crore. Details of Finquest’s offer for BILT aren’t public yet.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) bench, led by judicial member HV Subba Rao and technical member Madhu Sinha, approved the resolution plan filed by Finquest Financial on March 31 in an oral order. The order was not uploaded until the publication of this report.
Avantha Group Holding-promoted Ballarpur Industries, India’s largest manufacturer of writing and printing (W&P) paper, was admitted under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) after the company defaulted on its dues of about 50 crore.
The company’s total dues to financial creditors exceed 3,174 crore. On January 17, 2020, the company was admitted for insolvency resolution. In January 2022, the company was admitted for liquidation in the absence of any viable resolution plan. Subsequently, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside the tribunal’s order in a plea filed by Finquest Financial Solutions.
In December 2013, the company had entered into a loan agreement with the State Bank of Travancore for `50 crore. The loan was required to be repaid with interest in quarterly structured instalments starting in September 2014 until June 2022.
Later, the loan was assigned to Finquest Financial on December 2018. State Bank of Travancore was later merged into the State Bank of India. The appellate tribunal had also directed the resolution professional to file an application before the NCLT for approval of the resolution plan filed by Finquest Financial and take all other consequential steps as required in the matter.
