Binani’s lenders ask Dalmia to improve on UltraTech offer or exit

The Committee of Creditors of Binani Cement has given an ultimatum to the Dalmia Bharat-led consortium to better UltraTech Cement’s offer of ₹7,965 crore by next Thursday or exit the process.

If Dalmia Bharat revises its bid, UltraTech Cement will be given an opportunity to raise its bid in the same meeting, said sources close to the development. UltraTech Cement’s bid is already ₹1,200 crore higher than that of Dalmia Clement’s offer of ₹6,500 crore.

Some bankers in Binani Cement’s Committee of Creditors were upset with the resolution professional for delaying the process and want to finalise a bidder for the stressed asset positively by next Thursday, said a source, which attended the nine-hour-long meeting on Friday. The RP had initially picked Dalmiaas the winning bidder for Binani Cement. However, Ultratech and Binani complained against the decision. The matter was finally put to rest with the court ruling in favour of allowing UltraTech and Dalmia to submit higher bids.

While Dalmia Cement has been insisting that its first bid was still valid, it has the option to move the Supreme Court if it is not satisfied with the process.

Dhaval Vussonji of Dhaval Vussonji & Associates, who represents operational creditors, said the RP is re-assesing the documents submitted by operational creditors to see if any of their claims can be reinstated.

Earlier, the CoC meeting scheduled on May 10 was called off after the resolution professional Vijaykumar Iyer said he wanted a legal opinion on Dalmia Bharat’s claim that UltraTech is not eligible to bid under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

This delayed CoC from considering the revised bid after being directed by National Company Law Tribunal.