A joint bid by Dalmia Bharat Cement Ltd and Bain Piramal Resurgence Fund for debt-laden Binani Cement Ltd has been approved by the committee of creditors, according to multiple media reports.
The Economic Times cited a person aware of the development as saying that the winning consortium had made an offer of Rs 6,700 crore, including a payment Rs 6,313 crore to lenders and the remaning amount as capital infusion to run the company.
Mint reported that Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement Ltd, the country’s largest cement maker, had made an almost identical bid. However, it was not considered because of earlier penalties imposed by the Competition Commission of India.
Bain Piramal Resurgence Fund is a joint venture between the diversified Piramal Enterprises Ltd and Bain Capital Credit Ltd, the credit arm of US-based global alternative investment firm Bain Capital.
Binani Cement has been undergoing corporate insolvency resolution proceedings initiated by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The company owes around Rs 3,900 crore to a consortium of lenders, which includes Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company, State Bank of India, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda.
A subsidiary of Binani Industries Ltd, Binani Cement has an annual manufacturing capacity of 11.25 million tonnes globally, with an integrated plant in India and China, and grinding units in Dubai, according to its website.
In a separate report, impact investment firm Lok Capital is looking to raise a debt fund with a target corpus of $50 million (Rs 325 crore), according to The Economic Times.
Two people aware of the development said that the ticket size of investment from this debt fund will be between $1-3 million.
Lok Capital is looking to close its third fund in next few months, according to the report.
Lok Fund III has a target corpus of around $100 million (Rs 650 crore). It had made its first close at $40.5 million in June 2016.
Vishal Mehta, co-founder of Lok Capital, told the newspaper that they have already made investment commitments of $50 million from Lok Fund III.
Another report from The Economic Times states that early-stage VC firm WaterBridge Ventures has hit the final close of its debut fund at $30 million (Rs 200 crore).
WaterBridge Ventures has invested in six companies since the launch of the fund in 2016, according to VCCEdge, the data and research platform of News Corp VCCircle.
It is a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered Category-II Alternate Investment Fund and is targeting 15-20 investments, according to the report.
Its limited partners include Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), family offices from US, Hong Kong and Singapore and high net-worth professionals from technology the sector, the report added.