Zee Telefilms lines up $100 million ECB

Zee Telefilms announced that it will be raising up to $100 million (around Rs 450 crore) through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) to finance its broadcasting equipment upgradation plan.

The bonds will be listed on an international stock exchange, the company said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The fund raising programme, approved by the company's board yesterday, will be undertaken by the end of the current fiscal.

The company will be issuing bonds that will be convertible into Zee Telefilms' equity shares following the date of issue.

Senior executives at Zee Telefilms declined to comment. Shareholders' approval will be sought at a meeting dated March 9.

The maturity period of bonds is likely to be around five years. The company will use the funds to upgrade equipment, including those required for improving broadcast quality, besides other planned investments.

In 2000, Zee Tefilms had announced $1.5 billion overseas equity float through issue of ADS on the Nasdaq, wherein the company was planning to issue 40 million equity shares at a premium.

The fund raising proposal, which was aimed at financing the company's broadband related expansion, was, however, dropped at a later date.

The company had in the recent past made private placement to Goldman Sachs and NewCorp.

The company, in the third quarter of the current fiscal, announced a major restructuring of its group companies.

It included the consolidation of Zee Telefilms' overseas business outfits as well as the closure of non-performing businesses.