Liberty Steel is confident that its highest bid to acquire Bhushan Power and Steel will get the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) approval even as the committee of creditors (CoC) in its last meeting selected Tata Steel, the second highest bidder for the stressed asset.

“Liberty Steel has submitted all the financial details along with bank guarantee for the bid amount to CoC, according to the process prescribed, but it is surprising that they (CoC) have decide to go with the second highest bidder,” sources said, claiming that there has been no official communication from the CoC.

The next hearing of NCLAT is scheduled for July 12.

Last week, Liberty Steel, which was a late entrant into the bidding process, submitted a bank guarantee of ₹18,500 crore for upfront payment.

However, the CoC found the ₹17,500-crore bid of Tata Steel better because of its track record and its promise to make additional capital infusion of ₹7,500 crore.

Two-way battle

The bid for Bhushan Power was initially a two-way battle between Tata Steel and JSW Steel, with the former bidding higher. Liberty House placed its bid after the February 8 deadline and was initially rejected by CoC.

On April 23, NCLAT directed the lenders of Bhushan Power and Steel, led by Punjab National Bank, to consider the Liberty House bid and complete the resolution proceedings by June 23.

Tata Steel move

However, Tata Steel moved NCLAT against its decision to consider Liberty House’s belated bid for the company.

In its last hearing, NCLAT directed the CoC to proceed with the bids submitted by both Tata Steel and Liberty House in the first round without any re-bidding.

Bhushan Power, one of the top 12 defaulters, owes some ₹48,500 crore to its lenders and was admitted to the NCLT in June 2017.

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