India’s largest container glass producer by capacity, Hindustan National Glass Limited (HNGL) may see a new owner and management soon.
Soda ash producer, Nirma has submitted an INR 16,500 million ( USD206 million) plan to acquire the bankrupt company.
Africa-based bottle maker Madhvani Group and container glass producer AGI Greenpac have also submitted separate resolution plans for the company.
Danish beer maker Carlsberg, private equity funds Oaktree Capital and SNJ Distilleries are among a dozen entities that have shown interest in acquiring the company.
At a committee of creditors meeting recently, HNG lenders rejected an INR 12,500-13,000 million ( USD 156- USD 162 million) one-time settlement (OTS) offered by the promoter. A company can exit insolvency only if 90% of creditors by value agree.
The resolution professional Girish Juneja, backed by EY, has admitted INR 33,280 million ( USD 416 million) claims from financial creditors.
HNG's creditors include State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Rathi Brothers, Standard Chartered Bank, Life Insurance Corporation, Export-Import Bank of India and Edelweiss ARC, Goldman Sachs International Bank.
HNGL has made several attempts since 2018 to settle the loans, but the negotiations did not progress due to the promoter's inability to tie up funds.
In its latest attempt a year ago, HNG offered an INR 14,000 million ( USD 175 million) settlement over ten years and a conversion of the INR 5,000 million ( USD 62.5 million) loan into equity.
However, the settlement offer was not unanimously approved - a precondition to the deal. Edelweiss ARC, which holds 21% of the debt, rejected the proposal claiming it to be below expectation.
In 2019, an OTS backed by Carlsberg could not be concluded after it failed to get approval from the Competition Commission of India.
HNG was admitted for insolvency proceedings in October 2021 based on an application filed by DBS Bank.
