Great Offshore gets board's nod for raising Rs 1,750 cr

Oil and gas exploration services provider Great Offshore today said its board has approved the proposal to raise funds up to Rs 1,750 crore by issuing securities.

The board of directors took a decision to this effect at its meeting held today, Great Offshore said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The funds would be raised by issuing equity shares, bonds or debentures, or other securities for augmenting resources for providing a broad spectrum of services to upstream oil and gas producers, it said.

The board also approved the proposal to re-classify the existing preference share capital comprising 5 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each, aggregating to Rs 50 crore and 10 lakh cumulative redeemable preference shares of Rs 1,000 each totalling Rs 100 crore, it said.

These proposals are subject to final approval from the shareholders at the next annual general meeting, it said.

In December, Bharati Shipyard, the country's second-largest ship maker, acquired 45.88 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Great Offshore, using a combination of public offer and other acquisition routes.

Bharati had acquired over 20 per cent stake in Great Offshore for $100 million (Rs 461 crore) through open offer.

It acquired 7.82 million shares at a price of Rs 590 per share through the open offer.