The Supreme Court on Monday, 19 November, approved Binani Cement Ltd’s sale to UltraTech Cement Ltd, upholding the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) verdict on the insolvency bids.
The two-judge bench headed by Justice RF Nariman quashed Dalmia Bharat’s plea challenging the verdict, saying there was no infirmity in approval granted by the NCLAT, Bloomberg reported.
The appellate tribunal had, on 14 November, approved UltraTech Cement’s plan to acquire debt-laden Binani Cement, holding that the rival bid by Dalmia Group was “discriminatory” to creditors of the stressed cement maker. Dalmia Bharat then moved the Supreme Court on 15 November, challenging the NCLAT’s approval.
Dalmia Bharat-led Rajputana Properties had initially emerged as the highest bidder for acquisition of assets of insolvent Binani Cement. Later, UltraTech, the second-highest bidder, increased its offer, backed by the original promoters of Binani Cement.
UltraTech Cement’s shares rose as much as 2.14 percent apiece after the verdict compared with a 0.3 percent rise in the benchmark Sensex. Dalmia Bharat’s shares fell as much as 1.79 percent but recouped loses and were trading nearly unchanged at about 12:20 p.m.
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