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Despite snag, Sanjeev Gupta will not sell Indian assets
According to the persons cited above, Liberty Steel Group promoted by Sanjeev Gupta has declined offers from potential buyers to sell Adhunik Metaliks and SBQ Steels limited both of which have received several offers.
Troubled steelmaker Liberty Steel Group which is facing an anti-fraud probe in the UK has no immediate plans to sell its Indian assets even as it announced plans on Tuesday to sell one of its UK steel assets to repay creditors, two people aware of the development told Mint requesting anonymity.
According to the persons cited above, Liberty Steel Group promoted by Sanjeev Gupta has declined offers from potential buyers to sell Adhunik Metaliks and SBQ Steels limited both of which have received several offers.
“As things stand, Liberty is holding on to Indian steel assets possibly due to India’s growing steel demand but that may change if things get tough. A lot depends on what kind of offers the group gets for its UK asset, ‘’ said the first person cited above. On Tuesday, Liberty Steel said that it has had a very constructive and productive meeting with its lender Credit Suisse as part of its ongoing restructuring plans, which will result in the sale of its Stocksbridge plant in south-east England to help pay back lender Credit Suisse.
On Tuesday, news agency PTI reported that Gupta, who heads the wider Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance, and his newly-formed restructuring and transformation committee held advanced discussions with Credit Suisse Asset Management (CS) in Dubai over the weekend to reach a formal “standstill agreement” on its Liberty Primary Metals Australia business while refinancing is completed that will repay Credit Suisse out in full. As part of the agreement Credit Suisse has, meanwhile, agreed to pause court proceedings against Gupta’s empire while the sale of Stocksbridge is conducted, PTI report added. In February last year, Liberty Steel acquired Odisha based Adhunik Metaliks and its subsidiary Zion steel in an all cash deal and followed up with the acquisition of Andhra Pradesh-based SBQ Steels in a similar all-cash deal. Following the acquisition, the group partially started operations in Adhunik and employed around 1500 people.
Significantly, for both transactions Liberty raised funds from overseas investors after several Indian lenders refused to fund the transactions.
“Since no Indian lender has any exposure to any Liberty steel companies, the fate of the two Indian units will finally depend on how the overall restructuring process of Liberty Steel goes” said the second person cited above.
Earlier, the UK‘s fraud prosecutor opened a probe into Gupta’s GFG Alliance over suspicions of money laundering, causing a potential lender to the group to withdraw from agreements to provide new financing.
