Cox and Kings to raise Rs 2,000 cr to fund expansion

Travel company Cox and Kings (India) plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore of equity and debt to fund expansion plans.

"We have sought our board's approval to raise Rs 1,000 crore equity and Rs 1,000 crore debt to fund our future expansion, which also includes merger and acquisition plans," Cox and Kings (India) Chief Financial Officer Anil Khandelwal told PTI here.

He said he is looking at a few travel companies, both domestic and overseas, for acquisition, but things were still at an initial stage and nothing has been finalised as yet.

The company is looking at multiple opportunities in the travel segment and there could be more than one acquisition.

"We want to be ready with resources whenever such an opportunity emerges and hence, we have approached our board with the proposal to raise finance," he said.

Cox and Kings (India) appointed global merger and acquisitions specialist Peter Diethelm as a strategic adviser to its board recently.

The company is in the process of finalising the mode for raising the Rs 1,000 crore of equity.

"We are looking at all options, the mode will be decided soon," he said.

On the Rs 1,000 crore debt proposed to be raised, Khandelwal said, "The company is looking at the best and the cheapest mode."

Given its growing international presence and with an eye on the future, the company also proposes to change its name to Cox and Kings from Cox and Kings (India).

"Our company has grown internationally and almost half of our revenues now emanate from overseas markets. Hence, we thought it fit to change our name to one that fits in well in both the markets," Khandelwal said.

The company, which deals with around 1 million customers annually, reported a 113 per cent growth in profit after tax to Rs 133.84 crore in FY10 against Rs 62.81 crore in the previous year.