Janata Bank puts Beximco HQ, factories up for auction

State-owned Janata Bank has announced the auction of Beximco Group’s headquarters ‘Bell Tower’ along with several factories and land properties to recover approximately Tk 2,500 crore in defaulted loans owed by two of the group’s entities.

The bank published the auction notice in national newspapers on Tuesday (November 25). Beximco Group currently owes the bank nearly Tk 24,000 crore in total loans.

According to the notice, the Bell Tower will be sold as the company failed to clear its dues, including interest, as of October 31. Interested buyers must submit bids by December 10.

Janata Bank has also moved to auction assets of Acess Fashions Limited, which has Tk 1,133 crore in defaulted loans as of 31 October. Additionally, Beximco’s land and factories in Gazipur (3,527 shottok), Ashulia (146.65 shottok), and Narayanganj (440 shottok) will be sold.

Earlier, on 21 November, the bank published a separate auction notice seeking to recover defaulted loans from three Beximco concerns—Tk 1,755 crore from International Knitwear & Apparel Ltd (Units 1 and 2), Tk 724 crore from Urban Fashions, and Tk 816 crore from Apollo Apparels.

A senior bank official confirmed that the auctions follow decisions taken at the board meeting held on 20 November, aimed at recovering Beximco’s large volume of defaulted loans.

Meanwhile, two foreign companies—Japan-Bangladesh joint venture Revival and US-based Bangladeshi diaspora-owned Ecomilly—have expressed concern over the sudden auction announcement. They claim they were in ongoing discussions to lease Beximco’s closed textile units and were surprised by the bank’s decision to sell the assets and machinery. Both companies have urged Janata Bank to reconsider the auction initiative.