Jindal Steel Eyes Bankrupt Reliance Naval & Engineering

According to sources, India’s third-largest producer of alloy, Jindal Steel & Power and two other groups has shown interest in bidding for Reliance Naval & Engineering.

For Jindal Steel, that is operated by Naveen Jindal, Reliance Naval could be a captive client for the company’s shipbuilding plates, said Vidya Rattan Sharma, managing director at the steelmaker, who affirmed Jindal’s interest. The Du¬bai-based shipping firm GMS and Kotak Special Situations Fund were among the others that registered to bid as of the Feb. 28 deadline, according to sources.

The process to find a buyer for the indebted shipyard, once controlled by former billionaire Anil Ambani, began in May with deadlines being extended four times already. A successful sale of Reliance Naval will help creditors, including IDBI Bank and SBI recoup part of the company’s Rs.10,800 crore of debt.

GMS, one of the world’s largest buyers of ships for recycling, the Kotak fund and Sudip Bhattacharya, the insolvency resolution professional for Reliance Naval, didn’t immediately respond to em¬ails for comment. “We are looking at it in two ways,” Jindal Steel’s Sharma said in an interview. “One is the strategic location as it is port based and the other is that it can be a good outlet to consume our own plates.”

Jindal isn’t associating with any company for the bid, Vidya states. The port unit of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest container carrier, and 11 other groups had bid for the asset last year. Maersk’s unit though pulled out, says a report.