Supreme Court rejects Dalmia’s plea, refuses to intervene in sale of Binani Cement

Dalmia Bharat has offered to pay Rs6,932.46 crore for Binani Cement whereas UltraTech has raised its bid to Rs7,960 crore, and claimed that in the interest of all stakeholders, its bid should be considered by the lenders. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by Dalmia Bharat Ltd-controlled Rajputana Properties Pvt. Ltd (RPPL) challenging an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that refused to stay UltraTech Cement’s revised bid of Rs7,900 crore from being considered in the ongoing resolution process for Binani Cement

This comes as a setback for Dalmia Bharat as the apex court refused to interfere in the resolution process. The court however, asked the NCLAT to hear the case on a day-to-day basis, without adjournments.

Dalmia Bharat has offered to pay Rs6,932.46 crore for Binani Cement whereas UltraTech has raised its bid to Rs7,960 crore, and claimed that in the interest of all stakeholders, its bid should be considered by the lenders.

On 4 May, the appellate tribunal refused to grant an interim stay on a 2 May order of the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had asked the insolvency resolution professional (IRP) and the committee of creditors (CoC) to consider the revised bid of UltraTech Cement.

On 2 May, the Kolkata branch of the NCLT passed an order asking the IRP to accept UltraTech’s revised bid of Rs7,900 crore within three days with a provision for Dalmia Bharat to match UltraTech’s offer. This put UltraTech back in the race for acquiring Binani Cement. Thereafter, Dalmia Bharat moved the appellate court to obtain a stay on the NCLT order. NCLAT declined immediate stay.

According to a Mint story on 28 February, the Dalmia consortium had agreed to invest around Rs6,700 crore in the stressed cement firm over a period of time. Binani Cement, which was admitted by NCLT in July 2017 for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, owes around Rs6,500 crore to its lenders.

UltraTech Cement, which was initially outbid by Dalmia Bharat, later struck a deal with Binani Industries Ltd to acquire 98.43% in the cement maker for Rs7,266 crore.

Binani Cement is part of the Braj Binani Group and is a subsidiary of Binani Industries, the holding company of the group.