(Bloomberg) -- Sanjeev Gupta warned creditors not to “destroy value” by calling in debts and said he'll battle through litigation if needed, as the industrialist scrambles to save his metals empire after the collapse of its biggest lender.
Credit Suisse Group AG has moved to push one of Gupta's key commodities-trading units into insolvency, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Today, in his first press appearances since Greensill Capital imploded, Gupta said he's in positive discussions with its administrators, Grant Thornton.
“It makes no sense for them or any of the creditors to destroy jobs, but more importantly to destroy value, because that is the value that will give them their recovery,” he told BBC Radio 4's “Today” program.
Read More: Gupta Readies Debt Defense as He Chases Greensill Standstill
On Sky News, he struck a slightly more strident tone: “It's in their interest to work with us,” he said. “But if needed we will also litigate.”
An application to wind up Liberty Commodities Ltd. was filed in the U.K.'s insolvency court late Tuesday by a unit of Citigroup Inc. Citi was acting under instructions from Credit Suisse, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
Read More: Credit Suisse Seeks Insolvency for Gupta Trading Unit
The filing deals a big blow to Gupta's battle to secure the survival of his corporate empire. For several weeks since Greensill Capital collapsed into insolvency, Gupta and his GFG Alliance have been searching for new financing while simultaneously trying to persuade existing lenders to hold off.
Credit Suisse was a major lender to GFG via funds that bought debt packaged by Greensill Capital. The Swiss bank decided to liquidate the funds earlier this month after Greensill failed to extend insurance coverage for some of the loans.
In the BBC interview, Gupta said he's got a “huge amount” of interest from new financiers willing to back his companies, but that the immediate challenge is short-term funding.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
