JSW Steel Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd. have reportedly submitted bids for debt-laden Bhushan Steel Ltd, Reuters reported Feb. 5, citing three people familiar with the process.
JSW Steel teamed up with India Resurgence Fund to bid for the distressed Indian company. In late January, JSW Steel partnered with Japan's JFE Holdings Inc. to bid for certain insolvent Indian steel producers.
Meanwhile, a third group comprising Bhushan employees also submitted a bid for the company, according to the sources.
The size of the bid remained unclear; however, one source put the joint JSW Steel bid at as much as 280 billion rupees.
A spokesperson for JSW Steel did not immediately respond to repeated requests for comment, while a Tata Steel spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the transaction. Meanwhile, India Resurgence Fund said it would not comment on speculation, the news wire reported.
ArcelorMittal, which was previously reported to be interested in buying Bhushan, opted out of the bidding process, it confirmed to Reuters in a statement. "We remain interested at looking at future opportunities in India," the company added.
As of Feb. 2, US$1 was equivalent to 64.19 Indian rupees.
