VCCircle

Private equity fund Blackstone has invested $50 million in Pipavav Shipyard Ltd (PSL) in a pre-IPO placement, VC Circle has learned. The deal is said to be at Rs 80 a share. JM Financial is running the book.
Pipavav Shipyard, co-promoted by Delhi based engineering firm Punj Lloyd and Nikhil Gandhi's SKIL Infrastructure, is planning a $200 million IPO sometime next month which will see dilution of 10-15 per cent. A few months ago, the company received about $100 million from New York Life, 2i Capital, Trikona Capital and hedge fund Citadel, who invested $25 million each. The placement was done at Rs 45 a share.
Also, Singapore-based SembCorp Marine, the world’s second largest offshore oil rig builder, recently bought a 3.31 per cent stake in PSL for around Rs 80 crore. Sembcorp picked up over 17.5 million shares in PSL at about Rs 45 each. Sembcorp has been PSL's technical partner for shipyard design, technology, infrastructure, management and training of employees. But the Blackstone's deal has been done at a higher price.
The shipyard, being built at Pipavav, in Gujarat, is building a 600-metre-long dry dock. This will be the largest in India and the third-largest in the world after Hyundai’s yard in South Korea and Dubai Drydocks. Punj Loyd, which had acquired 129.4 million shares at Rs 27 (at a total investment of Rs 349.28 crore), owns 28.8 per cent of the current paid-up share capital of PSL. The other promoters include IDBI, IL&FS and Exim Bank who hold around 12 per cent.