The bankruptcy court has approved listed infrastructure firm J Kumar Infraprojects’ bid to acquire Pranav Construction Systems Pvt Ltd.
As part of the insolvency process, J Kumar Infraprojects has proposed to pay Rs 45 crore for the acquisition of the real estate firm against its admitted liabilities of about Rs 212 crore.
Before the tribunal’s nod, the lenders to the company had approved the revival plan, with 100% voting in its favour.Mumbai-based Pranav Construction Systems is a manufacturer of fabrication and precast iron structures. The successful bidder, J Kumar Infraprojects, has constructed some of the metro-rail projects in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
“The target company is engaged in the design, manufacturing, supply and installation of precision-oriented form works, scaffoldings, centring material and accessories for RCC concrete casting which are used in housing, metro and monorail projects,” a person familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity. “J Kumar Infraprojects sees this as a supply chain augmentation.”
At the time of the approval of the resolution plan, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had observed that the approval shall be binding on the corporate debtor, its employees, members and creditors, including the central government, any state government or any local authority to whom a debt in respect of the payment of dues arising under any law for the time being in force is due, guarantors and other stakeholders involved in the resolution plan.
Before the tribunal’s approval, another bidder, Revive Realty Ltd, had objected to the lenders’ approval at the tribunal, arguing that the timeline for the submission of the resolution plan was extended by the resolution professional, as a special favour to the successful bidder. Besides, it said, it was communicated about the extension on the last date of the submission of the plan.
Senior advocate Zal Andhyarujina appeared for the resolution professional and countering this, argued that the lenders had requested that the unsuccessful bidder revise its plan and improve the financial offer. But, it had informed the lenders that the proposal offered by them would remain unchanged.
The tribunal, while setting aside the objection petition, observed that the successful bidder had offered a better plan as compared to the objector and more importantly, the committee of creditors, after keeping in mind all the factors such as feasibility and viability of the plan, has unanimously approved the plan.
A total of 7,058 companies across sectors were brought into administration from the inception of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in 2016 until September-end 2023, according to the latest data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
Of these, the highest number of companies, around 38% or 2,682 companies, were from the manufacturing sector, and about 1,288 companies among these have seen a successful resolution plan.
