Wockhardt to raise Rs 500 cr through preferencial allotment

Wockhardt Ltd isplanning to raise Rs 500 crore through preferencial allotment of shares, for meeting payments to its Foreign Currency Convertible Bond(FCCB) holders.

The company informed the stock exchanges today that it is convening an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the members of the Company on January 19, to consider and approve the plan.

Wockhardt said the issue would be for redeemable preference shares of face value of Rs 5 each. The meeting will also consider increasing the authorised share capital from Rs 125 crore to Rs 175 crore by creation of 10 crore preference shares of face value of Rs 5 each.

As reported, Wockhardt was trying various options including sale of its assets to repay FCCB's worth about $150 million, which will mature by October 2009.