NCLT orders liquidation of Reid & Taylor

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Tuesday ordered liquidation of the ailing Reid & Taylor but asked the RP to ensure that the company is sold as a going concern to protect the interest of the workers.

The move came after the representatives of new investor India Gas failed to satisfy its mandatory net worth criteria of Rs 50 crore, even though it ready to make the Rs 2-crore non-refundable earnest money deposit. The NCLT bench headed by Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and V Nallasenapathy also said the representative of the Delhi-based Indian Gas was unable to prove their bona fide at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. The bench further said they also did not attempt to bring it to the notice of NCLAT. The bench admitted that even as it is ordering liquidation, another investor from US, Phoenix GBL, offered to take over the company "but going by the past experience of four-five failed bids, we dont want to waste any more time."

"All our efforts have gone in vain and we are saddened the manner in which the industry misrepresented the matter giving us no confidence to further afford an opportunity for anybody," the bench said ordering liquidation.

The bench further asked creditors and the resolution professional to ensure that the company is sold as a going concern so that the workers interest is protected.