Usha Martin

The stock price of Usha Martin surged 8% to Rs 198.75 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after 5.64 million equity shares had changed hands till 2:00 PM

The counter saw combined trading volumes of nearly 3 million shares on the BSE and NSE in morning trades so far.

The stock traded at its highest level since January 2008; the stock had hit a record high of Rs 154 on January 4, 2008.

Alleges several illegalities and non-compliance of the provisions of law by the directors and management in running the company

Mineral sold was meant for firm's captive use; attached properties pertain to Usha Martin's wire rope business, mines were transferred earlier to Tata Steel as part of steel biz sold

The two factions at the apex of Usha Martin's, of Basant-Prashant Jhawar and Brij-Rajeev Jhawar, have been at odds with each other for a while

They registered his statement under FEMA in connection with the purchase and registration of an immovable asset in Singapore in 2013 and a few other overseas transactions

Basant and Prashant Jhawar had been pressing for the sale of the entire company, even while discussion with Tata Steel was on for transfer of the steel business

A special resolution in this regard was passed with requisite majority at Usha Martin Limited's extraordinary general meeting

At June end, Usha Martin's debt stood at Rs 47 billion. The residual debt on the Usha Martin balance sheet would be just working capital of Rs 3-4 billion

Days after the Tata Steel deal, Basant and Prashant Jhawar had raised concerns about the utilisation of funds from the sale

The approval will be sought through special business in the extraordinary general meeting next month

Putting sales proceeds in such deals is a standard mechanism but not the only mechanism, industry experts said

Tata Steel has a disproportionate skew towards flat steel products now while Usha Martin has an integrated steel-making business with predominantly long steel products which get better margins

Margins of acquired assets should improve; gains not at the cost of high leverage

Informed sources said the resolution would be finally placed before the shareholders for approval

The five - JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Liberty House, Kalyani and Vedanta - have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in this regard, while they do their due-diligence.

Usha Martin has a one-million tonne a year unit at Jamshedpur

Bids are expected to be invited this month

Sources said at least five companies have evinced interest to buy the steel assets