Usha Martin gets response from buyers for wire rope business

Highly leveraged Usha Martin Limited has got feelers from overseas and domestic buyers to sell its wire rope business, the proceeds of which would mostly go towards reducing the debt burden.
"We have got response from buyers, both domestic and overseas, to sell the wire rope business of the company. Something concrete will emerge within the next two months", a source in the company told PTI.
Asked why the company had put the wire rope on the block and not the steel business, the source said that all the consultants, including the appointed investment banker Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) had suggested so.

"The rationale put forward by the consultants was that there were a lot of stressed steel assets available at the moment and putting another one up for sale will not be an attractive proposition", he said.
Rather, putting the wire rope division on the block would be better option as the business was already passing through a tough phase and chances of getting a good price was higher due to scarcity of such stressed assets in the market.
The RBC has the expertise in the wire rope transactions internationally, the source said.
The debt burden of Usha Martin stood at Rs 3,800 crore, out of which Rs 500 crore was in the form of working capital.