A bankruptcy tribunal has okayed Ipca Laboratories Ltd’s revised resolution plan for industrial explosives firm Noble Explochem Ltd, said the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company.
Ipca, backed by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), will pay Rs 69 crore ($9.7 million at current exchange rate) in line with the plan. However, the total claims admitted before the insolvency court stood at Rs 106 crore towards financial creditors alone.
Out of the seven entities that had shown interest in Noble Explochem, only Ipca and Nagpur-based industrial explosives manufacturer Solar Industries India Ltd submitted final bids in October.
While seven resolution applicants had shown interest, only Ipca and Nagpur-based industrial explosives manufacturer Solar Industries India Ltd submitted final bids in October.
Solar Industries had offered Rs 51 crore.
Nagpur-headquartered Noble Explochem owns freehold land, 689 acres, leasehold land, 180 acres (lease expiring in 2078), and forest land, 239 acres; plus a plant in the Wardha district of Maharashtra.
Ipca said it intends to use these assets for manufacturing chemicals, key starting materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
ADIA owns 1.32% stake in Ipca while promoter Premchand Godha and the promoter group own 46.07%.
Noble Explochem is a listed entity that started operations in 1984. The company was declared as a sick unit by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction in 2011. The firm was under insolvency proceedings from 14 May 2018 after a petition by its operational creditor Libord Securities Ltd.