Tata Steel Ltd. offered Usha Martin Ltd. 60 billion Indian rupees for its specialty steel business in Jamshedpur, according to multiple media reports.
The offer comes on the back of reports in late May that JSW Steel Ltd. was in advanced talks to acquire the same business and that Vedanta Ltd. might also be interested.
An anonymous source told Business Line that Tata Steel met with Usha Martin on June 6 and said that Tata would likely outbid JSW Steel, which is said to have offered 55 billion rupees. A source also told Forbes India that the Tata Steel bid was aggressively priced.
Usha Martin has said it was considering asset sales to eliminate debt. At the end of March, it reported 37.23 billion rupees in total debt.
The Jamshedpur facility is said to have 1 million tonnes in steel production capacity and to be integrated with coal and iron ore mines.
As of June 7, US$1 was equivalent to 67.36 Indian rupees.
