The Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday approved Liberty House's resolution plan to acquire Adhunik Metaliks. The bench comprising Justice Jinan KR held that “the revival plan of the company in accordance with the approved resolution plan shall come into force with immediate effect.”

It is to be noted that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Adhunik Metaliks had on July 5 approved the resolution plan of the UK-based Liberty House with a majority of 99.94 per cent. Adhunik has an integrated steel plant at Sundergarh in Odisha. The company manufactures steel primarily for the automotive and engineering sectors.

The lenders to Adhunik include State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, IFCI, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank and Srei Infrastructure Finance, among others. The lenders had total admitted claims of over Rs 5,300 crore towards the insolvent steel maker.

While there is no official confirmation, sources suggest that Liberty House will infuse close to Rs 600 crore towards the resolution of Adhunik Metaliks and its group company Zion Steel. The bench comprising Justice Madan Balachandra Gosavi had on July 10 approved the resolution plan for Zion Steel.

In Adhunik’s case, there were only two resolution applicants: Liberty House and the DP Jindal Group company Maharashtra Seamless. While the former was selected as the eligible highest (H1) bidder, issues cropped up under Section 29A of the IBC. Under this Section, a bidder can be disqualified for several reasons, including a loan default in any of the company’s subsidiaries.

The 270-day deadline granted to the bankrupt company under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) expired on April 29. “The moratorium order passed under Section 14 shall cease to have effect,” Jinan said in his order on Tuesday.

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