Drug maker Wockhardt has been rapped by the high court here and told to pay the Rs 350 crore it owes to its creditors without more delay.
At a hearing yesterday, the HC criticised Wockhardt on its debt and directed the pharma company to delink this repayment from its asset sale to Danone. The next hearing is on September 21.
A group of bondholders —led by bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon, Sun Pharma Global and hedge fund QVT— and creditors had taken Wockhardt to court, filing a wind-up petition, after the company defaulted on the repayment of its $110-million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB), in 2009. During the course of these proceedings, Wockhardt had been restrained from selling assets without informing the court.
In retaliation, the promoters of Wockhardt, the Khorakiwala family, had in June also filed a defamation case against bond holders in Ahmedabad, seeking Rs 939 crore as compensation.
Early last month, Wockhardt had signed an estimated Rs 1,600-crore deal with Danone to sell its nutrition business to the multinational company. But the deal still requires the seal of approval from the court.
The company had in the past deposited Rs 115 crore with the HC, as directed.
This time, the court has said the asset sale notwithstanding, the company would have to bring in the liability amount within a time-frame or face liquidation proceedings.
Yesterday, while admitting the liability to bond holders, the Wockhardt counsel said the object of the sale to Danone was to clear the debt.
