Binani Cement settlement to go out-of-court

MUMBAI: The ongoing resolution process of Binani Cement Ltd, which got stuck in a legal tangle, is now up to the petitioners to settle it out. A two-member bench National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday allowed the parties in dispute over selling of debtridden Binani Cement to amicably settle the issue.

“We give liberty to parties to reach settlement and approach appropriate forum for approval of the settlement,” the NCLAT bench said.

It was hearing a petition filed by Binani Industries Ltd., the parent company of Binani Cement. “Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that appellant has offered a better amount that is 100 per cent approximately of the dues to the Committee of Creditors,” the court said.

It may also be noted that last month, the Kolkata bench of the NCLT too had suggested that the parties go for an out-of-court settlement. It all started when Dalmia Bharat-led consortium won the bid to takeover stressed assets of Binani Cement offering Rs 6,500 crore, the former entered into a pact with UltraTech Cement Ltd, which agreed to pay Rs 700 crore more to buy its 98.43 per cent stake in the cement unit, provided the insolvency case was terminated.

UltraTech Cement also alleged that the process for choosing the top bidder was not transparent and that the resolution professional had not followed established best practices. It then moved the NCLT and also wrote to Binani Cement’s resolution professional, offering to increase its bid price, which was not accepted. Binani Industries then approached NCLT asking that the case be terminated.