 "jsw")
By Ameya Karve and Swansy Afonso
Steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal plans to borrow $750 million for capital expenditure purposes as India’s largest mill targets a major capacity expansion, according to people familiar with the matter.
JSW Steel Ltd., part of the $23 billion JSW Group, is sounding out lenders and a mandate is likely in the coming days, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The loan’s tenor and pricing will be finalized later as the deal proceeds, the people said.
The Mumbai-based firm’s need for cash has been growing as it aims to almost double its steel output to 50 million tons by the end of the decade to meet rising demand from construction, energy and autos. Last week, it started work on a $7.8 billion complex in eastern India, and the company is also said to be in the fray for a 20% stake in Whitehaven Coal Ltd.’s Blackwater coal mine.
JSW Steel didn’t respond to a query by Bloomberg News seeking comment on the fundraising plan.
In January, JSW’s board approved raising 20 billion rupees ($241 million) in funds through bonds. While its December-quarter profit quintupled from a year earlier, analysts have become wary of rising debt at the company. Net debt grew nearly 14% to 792.21 billion rupees at the end of December from a year earlier, though net debt to EBITDA fell to 2.64 times from 3.51, according to a filing.
JSW is part of the O.P. Jindal family, whose matriarch Savitri Jindal is Asia’s wealthiest woman. While her wealth of $28.9 billion derives from the businesses of her four sons, bulk of her fortune comes from JSW Group companies.
