Piramal Enterprises raises Rs 690 crore from Credit Suisse though debentures

Ajay Piramal-owned Piramal Enterprises (PEL) informed the bourses on Monday that the Administrative Committee of its board of directors has "approved the allotment of 6,900 secured, unrated, unlisted redeemable Non Convertible Debentures" each having a face value of Rs 10 lakh on private placement basis. The debt aggregating Rs 690 crore was raised from Credit Suisse and will mature in September 2020, Mint reported.

Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd, PEL's financial services arm, has also separately raised Rs 300 crore through the sale of NCDs. The fundraisings follow the company's decision last month to issue privately placed NCDs aggregating up to Rs 3,000 crore, including an option to retain over-subscription of up to Rs 2,500 crore. However, on August 28, the company said in a regulatory filing that it had decided to defer the issue, sending its stock sliding down 3 per cent on the BSE.

PEL had reported consolidated revenues of Rs 13,528 crore and profits of Rs 1,470 crore in 2018-19.  Almost half of the revenue contribution comes from financial services that include wholesale lending, housing finance and alternative asset management. Amid the liquidity crunch facing non-bank lenders post the IL&FS debacle, the company has been trying to reduce its dependence on short-term funding sources.

In July, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has infused Rs 200 crore in the company followed by Rs 1,500 crore debt financing from Standard Chartered. As per data from rating agency ICRA, PEL's standalone debt stood at Rs 17,185 crore in end March, while debt at a consolidated level, excluding financial services, was over Rs 21,495 crore. Interestingly, banks' share in its total borrowing mix has shot up from 49 per cent in end-September to 71 per cent as on March 31, the company said in its latest investor presentation.

On Monday, the holding company also announced that of the 9,000 NCDs issued last November, PEL has repurchased 4,438 debentures. "Post the extinguishment, an aggregate of 4,500 Debentures shall remain outstanding," the regulatory filing read.

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