JSW-Piramal offer Rs29,700 crore for Bhushan Steel

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The combined bid of JSW Steel Ltd and Piramal Enterprises Ltd has offered a payment of Rs 29,700 crore to lenders of debt laden Bhushan Steel Ltd which currently facing corporate insolvency proceedings, two people aware of the ongoing bidding process for the troubled steel company have told Mint on condition of anonymity.

According to the people cited above, JSW-Piramal has placed bid of Rs 29,700 crore, offering an upfront cash payment of Rs 28,000 crore to the banks and has offered to invest another Rs 1,700 crore as fresh equity into the company.

JSW- Piramal’s offer roughly translates into a 50% haircut for Bhushan Steel’s lenders which has an overall debt Rs42,355 crore. JSW has also proposed to expand the production capacity of Bhushan Steel from existing 7.1 mtpa to 10 mtpa. A JSW spokesperson declined requests for comment while emails sent to the interim resolution professional of Bhushan Steel and Tata Steel were yet to receive any response.

According to the people cited above Tata Steel Ltd has also bid for Bhushan Steel but the value of the bid was not immediately known. The third bid made by a section of Bhushan Steel’s employees is likely to be disqualified it was not supported by a bank guarantee, they said. The liquidation value of Bhushan Steel was earlier fixed at Rs 20,000 crore, the people cited above said.

“The bids were opened today and the committee of creditors of Bhushan Steel will now evaluate the resolution plans submitted by the bidders“ said the first person cited above. “ There is a possibility that the creditors will also engage with Tata steel before a final decision is made.

Bhushan Steel is the largest manufacturer of auto-grade steel in India, making flat products, hot rolled and cold rolled coils, besides operating a galvanised coil and sheet line. Its clients include General Motors Co., Hyundai Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Eicher Tractors Ltd. Essar Steel, meanwhile, has increased capacity utilization to 7.1 mtpa, from 35% in 2015 to over 80% in 2017. Bhushan Steel is among the 12 cases identified by the Reserve Bank of India for early bankruptcy proceedings.

Source: INDIAN EXPRESS