INDIAN company Essar Steel’s former promoter Prashant Ruia and two other directors have approached the country’s National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) yesterday (11) against the takeover of the debt ridden firm by ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker.
The petitioners have questioned last week’s ruling of the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) which approved the £4.58 billion takeover plan of debt ridden Essar Steel by ArcelorMittal.
The case was mentioned before a two-member bench which asked it to be listed after the Ahmedabad bench of the NCLT posts its full written order.
The two other directors of Essar Steel are Dilip Oommen and Rajiv Bhatnagar.
Standard Chartered Bank, a dissenting lender among the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Essar Steel, also questioned the March 8 order of the Ahmadabad bench of NCLT.
The lender is opposing the resolution plan approved by the CoC of Essar Steel contending that it was favoured towards the secured creditors.
Passing an order, the tribunal had suggested that the payment of £4.58bn by ArcelorMittal be distributed among financial and operational creditors in the ratio of 85:15.
Essar promoters are pushing for a one-time settlement proposal of £5.93bn with the lenders and withdrawal of the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) proceedings against the steel firm.
Essar Steel owns a 10-million-tonne capacity steel plant in Gujarat.
The rescue plan for Essar Steel has been tied up in legal hurdles for almost 24 months and has crossed the mandated 270 days period under IBC, as steel firm’s promoters questioned almost every procedure.
