 "Shapoorji Pallonji")
Afcons Infrastructure, a construction company owned by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group), plans to raise up to Rs 8,000 crore to reduce debt and fund expansion, said a report on Thursday.
The funds will be raised through an initial stake sale and the firm is projected to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in this financial year, according to the 'Financial Express'.
SP Group is in talks with domestic and international companies, including ICICI Securities and SBI Capital, for the IPO. The report quoted sources as saying Afcons’s stake sale would be mostly through an offer for sale (OFS) and the bankers for the issue would be finalised soon, probably within a week. The group is also in discussions with Nomura, Jefferies, and DAM Capital for the IPO, the sources added.
Mumbai-based Afcons Infrastructure does business in road construction, general civil engineering works, and offshore oil and gas. Through its subsidiaries, the company also owns land parcels, including in Karnataka. The last time an SP Group company raised funds through an IPO was Sterling and Wilson Solar’s share sale in 2019.
SP Group is the largest shareholder in Tata Sons, the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata group companies. The fundraising by Afcons Infrastructure comes shortly after another group company, Goswami Infratech, raised nearly Rs 14,500 crore by issuing bonds to private credit funds on Monday. Edelweiss Special Opportunities Fund, Davidson Kempner, Ares Capital Management, Varde Partners, Cerberus Capital Management, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank, among others, invested in the fundraising round.
SP Group, in April, announced plans to raise $1.7 billion through various means, such as pledging shares, to repay part of its debt and infuse cash in its operating companies.
