Friday, April 10, 2009

Unitech plans $250mn QIP issue to part-pay debt

Unitech Ltd, the country’s second-biggest real estate developer, plans to raise as much as $250 million (Rs 1,250 crore) through private placement of shares to qualified institutions, company officials said, to repay part of its debt of over Rs 8,000 crore.
The New Delhi-based developer plans to raise the funds by the end of this month, a company official, said declining to be identified. The company is planning to reduce Rs 1,000 crore of debt on its books by June this year. Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra and key officials of the company have been in Mumbai over the past couple of days to gauge investor sentiment. The real estate company has hired UBS and IDFC as arrangers for issue. A Unitech spokesperson declined to comment. Unitech’s move comes after the developer withdrew its application with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in February to raise Rs 5,000 crore from the sale of securities. A year earlier, the company planned to raise Rs 7,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement or QIP.

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