Bhushan deal delay weighing on credit line: JSW

Contrary to general belief, JSW Steel has expressed its willingness to close the Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) deal as soon as the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict and has not sought any additional time to pay the proceeds.

Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director, JSW Steel, told BusinessLine that all the company has sought is certainty on the timeline by when the deal can be closed. The company has already tied up the necessary funds.

“We have to keep our financing line alive till the deal is done. We cannot keep on asking the lenders to extend the timeline by one or two months,” he said.

The company wanted the committee of creditors of BPSL to provide a timeline, so that the financing line can be extended till March 2021.

For the last over two years, he said, the company has been extending the loan sanctioned by two and three months; however, it cannot be kept alive forever.

Of late, lenders of BPSL have been insisting JSW Steel pay its bid value of ₹19,300 crore as the NCLT has already approved its resolution plan and the apex court has not stayed execution of the deal.

However, JSW Steel was firm that all the objections, including the one raised by the Enforcement Directorate and other investigative agencies against the deal, be cleared by the Supreme Court.

Interestingly, even while the lenders were asking for payment from JSW Steel, the ED had filed a petition in the Supreme Court stating that the NCLT had no authority to approve the sale of BPSL when it has been attached as part of an investigation.

In fact, Rao added, the company has written a letter saying that it does not want any extra time to close the deal, but a certainty by when the deal can be concluded. “Once the litigations are cleared by the Supreme Court, we are here to implement it,” said Rao.