Tata Steel acquires nearly 73% stake in bankrupt Bhushan Steel
Tata Steel announced on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of 72.7% stake in Bhushan Steel through its subsidiary Bamnipal Steel. With Tata Steel taking control of Bhushan Steel after paying Rs 35,200 crore to its financial creditors, the first of the 12 big bankruptcy cases has been solved.
Bhushan Steel was among the 12 non-performing accounts that the Reserve Bank of India had identified in June. They account for about 25% of the country’s total bad loans, and must file for proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, it had said. The cases will be given priority by the National Company Law Tribunal, the bank’s notification added.
“Tata Steel Limited hereby announces that Bamnipal Steel Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel has successfully completed the acquisition of controlling stake of 72.65% in Bhushan Steel Limited in accordance with the approved Resolution Plan under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016,” the company said in a stock exchange filing.
Besides the settlement amounts paid to creditors, Bhushan Steel’s operational creditors, such as vendors, will be paid Rs 1,200 crore over a period of 12 months.
“The investment from BNPL [Bamnipal] in BSL [Bhushan] has been done through a combination of equity of Rs 158.89 crore and inter-corporate loan of Rs 34,973.69 crore,” Tata Steel said in its filing. “Additionally, Rs 100 crore has been paid by BNPL [Bamnipal] to the financial creditors of BSL [Bhushan] as consideration for novation of remaining financial debt of BSL.”
The acquisition is being financed through a combination of an external bridge loan of Rs 16,500 crore taken by Bamnipal Steel and the rest is through Tata Steel’s investment, the company added.
Meanwhile, Neeraj Singhal, the former vice chairman and managing director of Bhushan Steel, has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal seeking a stay on the takeover, according to Mint.
Minister of Finance Piyush Goyal termed the deal a “historic breakthrough”.
