IBC Vs NPAs: ArcelorMittal-Nippon Duo Beats Ruias’ Bid Over Essar Steel, Near Total Recovery of Bank Dues Expected

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) that is tasked with deciding on the fate of Essar Steel at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), has chosen the joint bid of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, as reported by Reuters.

The two companies would together pay a total of $5.7 billion and ArcelorMittal would own the majority stake. Nippon would get the rest of the almost-equal stake. “The acquisition will be implemented subject to the approvals of Indian National Company Law Tribunal and other relevant authorities,” Nippon said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg based company, is the world’s largest steelmaker. The CoC cleared the joint bid with a 92 per cent vote share.

This decision by the lenders comes a day after Ruias, the promoting family of Essar Steel, in a surprise offer, agreed to pay $7.4 billion to the creditors. This would have meant near-full recovery of bank dues. According to government data, Essar Steel owes around $7.9 billion to its creditors.

“We believe our current proposal will provide 100 per cent recovery to secured creditors and lenders and maximum recovery for unsecured creditors. This is well in excess of that offered in the proposal under consideration, and is in line with value maximisation, which is the underlying principle of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process,” Prashant Ruia, Director of Essar told CNBC TV18.