Plans to raise up to Rs 800 cr through public issue of NCDs
Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) is aggressively looking at small and medium enterprises for business growth, as the non-banking finance company wants to strengthen its portfolio across the country in the SME segment.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited has, as on June 30, 2011, SME finance and retail capital market finance activities accounting for 69 per cent and 16 per cent of its total loan book respectively. The aggregate loan book as on June 30, 2011, is Rs 9926.50 crore.
Amid this, RFL has announced plans to raise up to Rs 800 crores (including base-issue size upto Rs 400 crores with an option to retain an identical amount by over-subscription) through public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 1,000 each.
The public issue is scheduled to open and close for subscription from Friday September to September 26; with an option for early closure or extension by such period as may be decided by the RFL Board. The NCD applicants will be allocated on first-come-first-serve basis (determined on the basis of date of receipt of each application duly acknowledged by the bankers to the issue). The NCDs are proposed to be listed on BSE.
The net proceeds of the public issue (after meeting the public issue related expenses) will be used for various financing activities including lending and investments, subject to applicable statutory and/or regulatory requirements, to repay its existing debt and towards its business operations including for capital expenditure and working capital requirements.
The company has 23,000 SMEs accounts, with its northern region contributing a chunk of its business — 40 per cent. This is followed by west, south and east regions. The total loan book for Punjab, Haryana and Himachal is around Rs 578 crore with 3,518 live contracts as on June 30. Also, the average monthly disbursement per month in Punjab , Haryana and Himachal is Rs 50-60 crore.
The company has two zonal offices — in Chandigarh and Ludhiana — besides pocket offices at Karnal, Patiala, Bathinda and Jalandhar.
