Piramal Group in race to buy stakes in Binani Cement, Electrosteel Steels
LATEST NEWS : The cash-rich Piramal Group is in the race to buy controlling stakes in Binani Cement and Electrosteel Steels after their lenders asked India’s top conglomerates to bid for distressed assets that have been referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) following default on bank loans. The distressed asset fund of the Piramal Group would make the bids and had sought data from the lenders on the two companies, said a source close to the development. The NCLT had, in July, admitted a petition against unlisted Binani Cement for insolvency proceedings after the company defaulted on a Rs 97-crore loan to Bank of Baroda. Binani Cement owed Rs 3,700 crore as of March 2016 to Indian lenders led by Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company. The company, with 11.25 million tonnes of global capacity and a domestic capacity of 6.25 million tonnes, had also drawn attention from other cement makers, a lender said. In financial year 2016-17, Binani reported sal...