Himadri to run Birla Tyres, fund acquisition through internal cash

livemint.com:

Birla Tyres and will make the bulk of the proposed payment to fulfil the resolution plan, a top executive said, after the company’s joint resolution plan with Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal last week. Himadri and Dalmia had submitted a resolution plan to acquire Birla Tyres for ₹347 crore. Once executed, Birla Tyres will be a subsidiary of Himadri Specialty Chemicals.

“Himadri will be the majority player in the entire scheme of things, even financially. A substantial majority portion of the resolution amount will be paid by us," managing director and chief executive officer of the company Anurag Choudhary said, declining to specify the split. The acquisition will help Himadri with its forward integration plan and help boost its capacity in the electric vehicle segment, he said.

The Birla Tyres brand is also part of the transaction alongside the company and other assets. Some assets (in the bias tyre segment) will be owned by Dalmia Bharat Refractories but will be operationally managed by Himadri, Choudhary added. The total debt of Birla Tyres was ₹1,100 crore, which Himadri and Dalmia Bharat Refractories offered to buy at ₹347 crore, higher than the liquidation value of ₹335 crore.

Himadri began with a coal tar distillation plant before moving to the manufacturing of various carbon-based products and power generation. The acquisition will help Himadri get the passenger car radial plant, where it will be investing a small amount as capital expenditure to make it operative. The plant was started by Birla before insolvency but not put into operation.