The National Company Law Tribunal in its order approved the resolution plan for Unimark Remedies, which was submitted by a consortium of Asset Reconstruction Company (India), Intas Pharmaceutical and Shamrock Pharmachemi.
The court had reserved its order for approving the resolution plan on 9 February.
A bench led by Justices Kishore Velumpalli and Prabhat Kumar held that the resolution plan has been approved. The resolution plan is not in contravention of any provisions of section 29A of the Code and is in accordance with the law.
“This is possibly one of the largest plans ever approved for a pharmaceutical company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code”., said a counsel aware of the development.
ICICI Bank, one of the financial creditors had moved the NCLT to recover dues of more than ₹100 crores and to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process against Unimark under section 7 of the IBC, 2016. The tribunal in April 2018 admitted the company under insolvency and appointed as the resolution professional of the company. The total liability of the company stood at 1,172 crores.
At one of the hearings, appearing for the successful consortium of ARCIL, Intas and Shamrock, Mr. Nausher Kohli, Counsel submitted that “the consortium’s resolution plan has obtained the requisite majority approval and therefore, the same be approved by the NCLT”
The Committee of Creditors had approved the resolution plan by a majority vote of 72.25%.
The total resolution plan proposed by the consortium is worth ₹250 crores as per the order. Under the plan, the financial creditors are proposed to be paid ₹121 crore. This will comprise ₹101 crore of upfront cash and ₹20 crore worth non-convertible debentures.
Moreover, the plan includes payment of ₹5 crores towards the workmen and employee dues while ₹1 crore will be paid to the remaining operational creditors.
The plan also includes proposed CIRP costs totaling to ₹13 crores. Since these costs were alleged to be exorbitant, the bench has clarified that the CoC will decide on the quantum of the final CIRP costs.
Apart from this, the 80-page order also stated that the resolution plan will also include an infusion of ₹60 crores towards capital expenditure and another ₹50 crore towards working capital requirement.
Separately, Union Bank of India, one of the dissenting financial creditors had filed an application seeking appointment of fresh valuers for revaluation of the tangible and intangible assets of the company, while also opposing the resolution plan submitted for the company.
The NCLT, however, refused to interfere and disposed of the application, citing a previous NCLAT order.
