United Spirits (USL), a UB Group company, has raised close to Rs 1,600 crore through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route. This is the second time that the company has raised funds in a four-month period. The first one was when the company raised Rs 950 crore through an open market sale in July.
The QIP route was necessitated after USL’s discussions with global private equity players, including KKR and Capital International, fell through early this month.
According to company executives, up to Rs 1,300 crore from the QIP proceeds would be used to settle debts, while the rest would be used for business expansion. USL had used the entire Rs 950 crore which it raised earlier to settle part of the Rs 7,100-crore debt — a leverage of nearly three times.
USL had raised close to Rs 3,000 crore to acquire Scotland-based Whyte & Mackay for around Rs 5,730 crore during 2007. This year, USL had to repay Rs 549 crore.