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Beximco: A Corporate Collapse The System Can’t Ignore

• By  Textile Excellence
• January 03, 2026

The interim government of Bangladesh has shelved a near-final revival plan for the debt-laden Beximco textile factories, choosing instead to lease the assets through an open tender as banks seek to claw back more than Tk 35,000 crore in defaulted loans. The move marks a decisive shift from negotiated rescue to market-driven recovery, and underscores the depth of Bangladesh’s industrial and financial stress.

The decision was taken on the instructions of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and places the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) in charge of the leasing process. Minutes from an 8 December meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on labour and business conditions at the Beximco Industrial Park show that authorities abandoned talks with Japan’s Revival Japan Projects despite months of advanced negotiations.

Officials said the proposed revival plan - structured around a single foreign operator - conflicted with public procurement principles, given the scale of public exposure and state involvement. An open tender, they argued, offered greater transparency and reduced political risk. The choice, however, also reflects the government’s unwillingness to assume further reputational or financial liability in one of the country’s most politically sensitive corporate failures.

Following the shelving of the deal, Janata Bank moved to auction several Beximco units to recover dues. That effort has since been stalled after a court imposed a stay order at the request of the Beximco Group, highlighting how legal challenges continue to complicate loan recovery across Bangladesh’s banking system.

Janata Bank Managing Director Md Mazibur Rahman told the meeting that a tripartite framework involving Beximco, Revival and the bank had been discussed but was dropped following directives from higher authorities. The bank has since published advertisements to sell mortgaged assets, signalling a harder line on recovery. The committee agreed that priority must be given to recovering the Tk 600 crore interest-free government loan used to clear workers’ unpaid wages.

Beximco Textiles Limited operates 15 factories at the industrial park and is owned by Salman F Rahman, former private industry adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, now jailed on multiple corruption and criminal charges. The factories were shut in February after months of wage arrears and loan defaults. Of the group’s total liabilities, nearly Tk 23,000 crore is owed to Janata Bank alone, with all loans classified as non-performing.

Under the abandoned proposal, Revival had offered to inject US$ 20 million in working capital without assuming legacy debt, operating the factories using existing infrastructure and retaining roughly half of net profits, with the remainder earmarked for loan repayment. Beximco itself would have received nothing.

While Revival has said it may participate in the tender, the broader lesson is starker. Beximco’s collapse is not just a corporate failure, it is a case study in how political patronage, weak banking discipline and delayed accountability can devastate jobs, balance sheets and industrial credibility. For Bangladesh, the question is no longer how to revive Beximco, but how many similar collapses the system can absorb.

Following the shelving of the deal, Janata Bank moved to auction several Beximco units to recover dues. That effort has since been stalled after a court imposed a stay order at the request of the Beximco Group, highlighting how legal challenges continue to complicate loan recovery across Bangladesh’s banking system.