India’s largest steel company by revenues Tata Steel Ltd is planning a private placement of debt including equity convertible securities to raise as much as Rs 14,000 crore (around $2.32 billion) in overseas or domestic capital market, according to a stock market disclosure.
The firm did not give a time frame for raising the money nor the proposed plan for its utilisation.
At the end of March 31, 2014, Tata Steel’s net debt was Rs 67,326 crore (around $11 billion), while it had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 11,373 crore.
Currently, Tata Steel is selling off its non-core assets across the world to improve its balance sheet and bring down its huge debt. Recently, it said that it is selling off its New Zealand-based subsidiary Tata Steel International (Australasia) Ltd to a local player named Steel & Tube Holdings for NZ$27.5 million (Rs 144 crore or $24 million) in cash.
Last year, it divested part of its investment in group firm Titan Industries and recently monetised its Borivali land parcel in Mumbai by selling it to Oberoi Realty in a large deal.
Tata Steel scrip closed the day at Rs 532.10 per share, up 1.38 per cent on the BSE in a strong Mumbai market on Wednesday.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
