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To thwart a last moment takeover of the debt-ridden firm Essar Steel Ltd by Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal, Essar Steel Ltd’s former promoter Prashant Ruia—along with two other directors of the erstwhile board of the steelmaker—has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
Ruia has according to media reports challenged the orders of the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which on Friday approved ArcelorMittal’s ₹42,000-crore offer for Essar Steel’s takeover.
The matter was mentioned before a two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya on Monday evening, which asked it to be taken only after NCLT passes its full written order.
Standard Chartered Bank, a dissenting bank among the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Essar Steel, Monday also challenged the 8 March order of NCLT Ahmedabad.
Standard Chartered Bank is opposing the resolution plan approved by the CoC of Essar Steel contending that it was favoured towards the secured creditors.
On Friday, NCLT Ahmedabad had approved the lenders’ plan to let global steel giant ArcelorMittal take over Essar Steel. Passing an order, the tribunal had suggested that the payment of ₹42,000 crore by ArcelorMittal be distributed among financial and operational creditors in the ration of 85:15.
The detailed written order of Ahmedabad NCLT is still awaited. Essar Steel promoters are pushing for a one-time settlement proposal of ₹54,389 crore with the lenders and withdrawal of the IBC proceedings against the company.
“We are also confident of the legal validity of our said offer made under Section 12A, which provides for the withdrawal from the IBC process by making full payment to the creditors,” the company had said earlier. Essar Steel owns a 10-million-tonne steel mill at Hazira in Gujarat.
