Liberty House to bid for ABG Shipyard again

The UK-based Liberty House is likely to bid for debt-laden ABG Shipyard Ltd for the third time after creditors invited fresh proposals.

Liberty’s bid in the first round was rejected as the offer was below ABG Shipyard’s liquidation value of Rs 2,200 crore. In the second round, it failed to comply with bankruptcy rules, according to the report.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Mahindra Group had evinced interest in ABG Shipyard but didn’t make any firm offer, the report added.

ABG Shipyard is one of the 12 large bad-loan accounts identified by the Reserve Bank of India for loan resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in its first list.

In a separate report, a financial daily cited people aware of the development, that private equity giant Blackstone has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. The report said a Chinese strategic investor is also interested in the company.

Incorporated in 1946, Kirloskar Oil Engines is the flagship company of the Kirloskar group. It makes diesel engines, agricultural pump sets and electrical generators.

In 2016-17, the consolidated income of the company was Rs 2,963.3 crore and net profit was Rs 173.8 crore.

As on 31 December 2017, Nalanda Capital, an India-focussed PE-style investor in public equities, held a 9.61% stake in the company. The promoters hold a 59.33% stake.