After receiving flak from some of its investors, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Sunday said that it has negotiated a revised binding offer from Worldone Pvt Ltd for its proposed stake sale in Jindal Power Ltd (JPL) and would also launch a transparent bidding process for the same.
In a statement, JSPL said it, along with its transaction advisors, has successfully negotiated a revised and improved binding offer from Worldone, a private company owned by the promoter group, accommodating all the investor feedback received by the company.
Under the revised offer, Worldone will buy out all equity shares and redeemable preference shares of JPL held by JSPL for a total consideration of approximately Rs 7,401 crore, of which Rs 3,015 crore will be payable by cash.
The balance Rs 4,386 crore will be payable by way of assumption and takeover of liabilities and obligations of JSPL in relation to inter-corporate deposits and the capital advances extended by JPL to JSPL.
"In effect, the revised offer is now simple and straight forward where there will be no continuing financial linkage between JSPL and JPL post the divestment. This was one of the key asks by JSPL investors during the feedback sessions held earlier and has been addressed comprehensively," the company said in the statement.
Also Read: JSPL to sell stake in Jindal Power to Worldone for Rs 3,015 crore
JSPL said it prides itself in putting interest of minority shareholders at the forefront of its decision making process and has accordingly decided to launch an additional transparent competitive bidding process for the proposed stake sale in JPL.
The bidding process will help realise the highest value possible from JPL stake sale. The revised offer of Rs 7,401 crore will be the base offer for the bidding process, it said. "The transparent bidding process will be advertised in the public domain and will present an equal opportunity for interested bidders from around the world to come forward and improve or better the present revised offer of Rs 7,401 crore."
Earlier in April, JSPL said that it had accepted a binding offer from Worldone to divest its 96.42 per cent stake in JPL in an all-cash deal of Rs 3,015 crore. The sale of stake in JSPL's material subsidiary also included 3,400 MW coal-fired power plants in Chhattisgarh and other non-core assets owned by JPL.
JSPL had said that the divestment was in line with its strategic objective to continuously reduce debt, focus on India steel business and significantly reduce its carbon footprint by almost half as part of its ESG objectives.