GMR Infra set to refinance Rs 3,500-cr debt

GMR Infrastructure, the Bangalore-based infrastructure developer, plans to refinance $750 million (Rs 3,500 crore) of debt, which it had raised to acquire 50 per cent stake in Dutch power utility Intergen NV for close to $980 million (Rs 4,500 crore) in mid-2008.

The company, with interests in airports, roads and special economic zones, in addition to the power sector, had raised the $750-million debt at Libor-plus 450 basis points. GMR, whose revenue is Rs 5,000 crore, has appointed an advisor to explore options to refinance the debt, company officials told Business Standard.

The company had, through its step-down subsidiary, GMR Energy Global Ltd, acquired 50 per cent equity stake in Intergen NV by means of compulsory convertible debentures. GMR had also given a corporate guarantee up to a maximum of $1.38 billion to the lenders on behalf of another subsidiary to enable it to raise debt for financing the acquisition. GMR has yet to consolidate the accounts of Intergen, pending the conversion which is expected during mid-2010.

A global energy company, Intergen operates 8,086-Mw capacity across five countries in four continents and is further developing 4,686 Mw. The stake will give GMR access to Intergen’s 12 operating power plants in Britain, the Netherlands, Mexico, Australia and the Philippines, which have total annual sales of $1.65 billion.

GMR is leveraged at 1.62 times, with a debt of Rs 13,935 crore on net worth of Rs 8,591 crore. In the recent past, it had raised Rs 1,300 crore from various sources to fund the equity portion for several of its projects across the road and power sectors.

In India, it operates three power plants with a cumulative capacity of 800 Mw and has planned to add eight times this capacity and generate 6,700 Mw over the next five years, for a cost of $6.5 billion.

GMR is actively developing power projects with 2,000 Mw capacities in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and another 1,200 Mw of hydropower projects in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Nepal.