Ansal API plans to raise up to Rs 400 cr from PE deals

Realty firm Ansal Properties & Infrastructure plans to raise up to Rs 400 crore from private equity players this fiscal to partly repay its high cost debt and fund construction activities of various projects.

According to sources, Ansal API is in talks with private equity firms to raise Rs 300-400 crore by diluting stakes in some of its townships, being developed in North India.

Last month, the company had raised Rs 231 crore through private placement of shares to institutional investors for reducing its debt and execute ongoing projects.

"Ansal API is in advanced stages of negotiations to close a deal for Sushant Golf City in Lucknow. It is tying up with a PE fund for a special purpose vehicle, comprising some of the projects within the township," a source said.

In Lucknow, the company is developing a 3,530-acre hi-tech township. Besides this, the company is also exploring possibilities to raise money from one of its townships in Gurgaon and Greater Noida, sources said.

When contacted, a senior company official said: "We are targeting to retire about Rs 300 crore of high cost debt within this fiscal. For that, we are looking at raising money through various options."

The company's current debt stands at about Rs 1,450 crore and its average cost of interest is 14.5 per cent.

"We are planning to bring interest costs down to 12.5- 13.5 per cent by the end of this fiscal," the official said.

The National-Capital based firm has repaid Rs 140 crore high cost debt in the last 10 days, utilising the money that it had received from qualified institutional placements.

In this fiscal, the company has repaid an another Rs 100 crore of debt, mainly high-cost.

The company has reported a 23 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 22.76 crore for the quarter ended September 30 compared to the year-ago period. It had posted a net profit of Rs 29.68 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Ansal API's revenues rose by 71 per cent to Rs 330.05 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal against Rs 192.46 crore in the year-ago period.