Sobha raises Rs 526 cr thru QIP

Sobha raises Rs 526 cr thru QIP
The Hindu Business Line, July 2, 2009, Page 3

Our Bureau, Bangalore

Sobha Developers has successfully closed the bidding for qualified institutional placement (QIP) raising about Rs 526 crore.

The company, in its filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that the board of directors had approved the issuance of 25,162,135 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 209.4 per share.

With this QIP, the promoters’ stake in the company will come down by about 23 per cent from the current 87 per cent.

It is learnt that the funds would be utilised for working capital requirements and also part payment of the company’s debts. According to sources, buyers include domestic and foreign investors. Enam and Morgan Stanley managed the issue for Sobha Developers.

This is part of the company’s efforts to restructure its Rs 1,900-crore debt, and its current leverage is 1.65 times. The company is also looking at raising funds through sale of a part of their 3,000-acre land-bank, and is in talks with potential buyers for prime land parcels in Bangalore. In an interview to Business Line earlier, company officials had said that they hoped to raise about Rs 900 crore through preferential allotment, SPV-level funding, and sale of land.