Kirloskar Ferrous Industries (KFIL), a leading manufacturer of pig iron and grey iron castings, has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Indian Seamless Metal Tubes (ISMT). The transaction envisaged an investment of Rs 670 crore by KFIL into ISMT. With this, the company has become a subsidiary of KFIL.

ISMT has appointed five directors including Rahul Kirloskar and Ravindranath Gumaste of KFIL on the board, while its original promoter Baldevraj Taneja has resigned from the Board of Directors. The company has also commenced an open offer for acquiring up to 25.05% of the voting capital of ISMT, which amounts to Rs 239.7 crore on full acceptance of the open offer.

ISMT, one of the major manufacturers of seamless tubes in India with an integrated steel plant, had made major investments in power plant, which was funded by debt. The investments did not pan out as per plans and this led to stress in the debt. Lenders of ISMT had in the past pursued various schemes for resolution of the debt as per RBI guidelines, prevailing from time to time, including outside strategic debt restructuring.

Lenders have decided to go for one-time settlement for the outstanding debt of the company alongwith change in management. This is the second instance in the listed industrial space, after CG Power & Industrial Solutions was acquired by the Murugappa Group in 2020 under settlement with banks and with management change. In FY22, KFIL reported a total income of Rs 2716 crore for the first 9 months, which is an over 100% increase over Rs 1291 crore reported in the same period in FY21.

Complete News Source : Construction Week