Gayatri Projects up 5% as subsidiary to sell stake in Sembcorp Energy

Gayatri Projects hit a multi-year low level of Rs 56.90 on November 25, 2019 after continued fall in share prices following invocation of pledged shares by lenders

Shares of Gayatri Projects hit 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 73.40 on the BSE on Thursday, after its subsidiary Gayatri Energy Ventures Pte Ltd (GEVPL) signed an agreement to sell the remaining 5.96 per cent stake in Sembcorp Energy India Limited (SEIL) to Sembcorp Utilities for Rs 406 crore.

According to Gayatri Projects' filing to exchanges, GEVPL will be entitled for future earn-outs "based on achievement of certain milestones by SEIL". READ THE FILING HERE

"The proceeds of the stake sale will be utilised for reduction of the debt, general corporate purposes and working capital," the company said.

Gayatri Projects had hit a multi-year low of Rs 56.90 on November 25, 2019 after continued fall in share prices following invocation of pledged shares by lenders. The lenders invoked 50,397 pledged shares of the promoters on November 18. Earlier, on November 11, the lenders had invoked 55,206 pledge shares.

In November, rating agency Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) had revised the ratings of long-term and short-term bank facilities of Gayatri Projects to 'CARE D', due to delay in servicing debt obligations. The instruments with this rating, the agency said, are in default or are expected to be in default soon.

Responding to the downgrade, Gayatri Projects had said it was working on the completion of the SEIL deal "to significantly de-leverage its balance sheet and overcome its temporary liquidity crunch."

At 10:31, the stock was up 4.65 per cent at Rs 73.20 as compared to 0.2 per cent gain the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 1.3 lakh shares had changed hands on the NSE and BSE.