NCLT approves OCL Iron & Steel’s acquisition of Helios Photo Voltaic

NCLT approves OCL Iron & Steel’s acquisition of Helios Photo Voltaic

The successful resolution plan will pay Rs.113 crore to revive the company

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has given the go- ahead to OCL Iron & Steel Ltd for the acquisition of Helios Photo Voltaic Ltd through an insolvency process. Early last year, the New Delhi bench of the NCLT admitted the company under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in an application filed by the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL).

Helios Photo (earlier Moser Baer) manufactures solar energy equipment including optical media storage products, photovoltaic cells, thin film modules, panels and electrical equipment products, along with wires and cables.

In its order, the division bench of Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar (Chairperson) and Avinash K. Srivastava (Technical Member) held, "As per the resolution of the Committee of Creditors (CoC), the plan meets the requirement of being viable and feasible for the revival of the corporate debtor (Helios Photo Voltaic). "By and large, there are provisions for making the (revival) plan effectiveafter approval by the adjudicating authority."

The company's Resolution Professional (RP) received claims of over Rs,1,034 crore and it has Rs.723 crore liability. The successful resolution plan proposes to pay Rs.113 crore to acquire the company. Initially, apart from OCL, other bidders such as Gateway Investment Management Services, JFC Finance Ltd and Aavanti Renewable Energy showed interest in the acquisition.

However, in August 2024, the CoC approved OCL's revival plan for Helios by 73.38 percent voting share. Meanwhile, NARCL Trust controls 73.38 percent of voting power followed by Alchemist Asset Reconstruction Company (18.69 percent) and International Finance Corporation (7.93 percent).

The NCLT had admitted the company under the CIRP after an application by the NARCL. Earlier, the public sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce (now merged with the Punjab National Bank) had approached the tribunal after the company defaulted on Rs.859 crore dues. The loans were later assigned to the state-sponsored bad bank, NARCL. Meanwhile, Ketan Mukhija, a senior partner at Burgeon Law remarked, “The acquisition in the solar energy sector would enhance the acquirer's technological capabilities and market reach. It would allow a more robust and diversified product portfolio.”

“By integrating advanced photovoltaic solutions, the company could improve efficiency, drive sustainability, and strengthen its competitive edge to accelerate growth and increase profitability,” he added.

Across the sectors, by September last, 8,002 companies were brought into administration as per the IBBI. Out of those,1963 cases are still undergoing the insolvency process. The tribunals approved 1068 resolution plans, and 2,630 cases were referred for liquidation in absence of any viable resolution plan.