Indian Gas fails to furnish files, NCLT orders liquidation of Reid & Taylor

The Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday ordered the liquidation of the debt ridden Reid&Taylor after the new investor, Indian Gas, failed to furnish documents that prove its net worth is over Rs 50 crore.

However, the investor was ready to pay Rs 2 crore non-refundable earnest deposit money as was asked by the tribunal to set in motion the process of providing a resolution plan for the company.

Although an investor from the United States named Phoenix GBL offered to take over the company, the bench presided over by Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and V Nallasenapathy remarked that they are not going to waste any further time as they have already entertained four –five bids which failed to make any progress.

The tribunal also asked the registrar and the resolution professional to put in their best efforts to ensure that the company is sold as a going concern to protect the interest of the workers.

Earlier, Gujarat based CFM Asset Reconstruction and Hong Kong based SPGP holdings had submitted their respective bids to take over the company but they failed to either meet the requirements of the tribunal or did not show interest in providing a resolution plan for the debt ridden company.

In December 2018, the committee of creditors had moved for liquidation of the company but the tribunal stalled the liquidation process and gave extra eleven days for corporate insolvency resolution process after the 270-day time period for a resolution proposal of the company expired.

Finquest Financial Services, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, IL&FS Financial Services, IDBI Bank and L&T Finance are the lenders who have an exposure to the debt ridden Reid&Taylor.