IHCL's Rs 1,000 cr rights issue to open on Aug 4

The Rs 1,000 crore rights issue of Tata group's hospitality major, Indian Hotels Company Ltd, will open on August 4 and a substantial amount of the funds raised will be utilised to repay debt.

The issue will close on August 20, according to the offer document filed by IHCL with market regulator Sebi.

It will offer nearly 18.2 crore 'compulsorily convertible debentures' for cash at Rs 55 apiece to its existing shareholders on rights basis for an aggregate amount of upto Rs 1,000 crore.

Every investor holding 40 equity shares of IHCL would be eligible to buy 9 'compulsorily convertible debentures' of the company.

As per the offer document, the Tata group firm plans to utilise Rs 552.68 crore from the funds raised towards "full or partial repayment or pre-payment of certain borrowings availed by the company (including redemption premium on non-convertible debentures)".

Besides, IHCL has proposed to use Rs 127.32 crore for "renovation or refurbishment in some of its existing hotels which include The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai".

It also intends to utilise Rs 70 crore from the proceeds to part fund the construction of its hotel 'Vivanta by Taj' at Guwahati.

"The company proposes to deploy the balance portion of net proceeds aggregating Rs 243.25 crores towards general corporate purposes" the offer document said.

JM Financial Institutional Securities, DSP Merrill Lynch, SBI Capital Markets and Standard Chartered Securities (India) are the lead managers to the issue. Link Intime India is acting as the registrar to the issue.

As on May 31, 2014, IHCL operated 127 hotels and resorts with 15,690 rooms, and had presence across various geographical segments including beach resorts, hill stations, major cities and tourist destinations.