News

Thriveni Earthmovers leads race for Lanco Infratech

NEW DELHI: Iron ore mine developer-cum-operator Thriveni Earthmovers has emerged as the highest bidder for debt-laden Lanco Infratech, people familiar with the development said.

With a debt of about Rs 45,000 crore, Lanco Infratech is one of the 12 stressed accounts identified by the Reserve Bank of India for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

The committee of creditors (CoC) led by the ICICI Bank decided that Tamil Nadu-based Thriveni Earthmovers was the top bidder and have asked the company to submit a “revised addendum” to its resolution plan. The CoC has rejected all the other bids for offering close to the liquidation value of the company, it is learnt.

Most of the bids submitted for Lanco were for specific assets and few offering a consolidated plan for the entire company. The committee will conduct a vote for the resolution plan of Thriveni over the next two days.

If the plan fails to get up to 75% votes then the company could go for liquidation, a person familiar with the matter said. Thriveni, it is learnt, has provided a comprehensive bid for all the assets of Lanco.

Other bidders included US asset management company Ingen Capital, US energy firm Penn Energy, DivyaSree Developers from Bengaluru, Solarland China, Cube Highways backed by I-Squared, and Kalyani Developers, Bengaluru.

Lenders had been unwilling to accept offers that were close to liquidation value since it could lead to investigations and scrutiny.

ICICI Bank, with an exposure of Rs 7,380 core, is the leading lender to Lanco, followed by IDBI Bank with claims of Rs 3,608 crore. Lanco Infratech was referred to NCLT in August 2017.