Sterlite debenture issue raises Rs 2,350 cr

Sterlite Industries, the country’s largest copper producer, raised Rs 2,350 crore ($500 million) today by selling convertible debentures to finance its expansion. The stock fell 9 per cent to Rs 790 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The company had raised $1.5 billion in July by selling shares in the US.

The company, promoted by billionaire Anil Agarwal, had earlier announced a plan for a 400,000-tonne expansion, including a 160-Mw power plant, at its South India copper smelter with an investment of about Rs 2,300 crore. In an announcement to the BSE, it said the debentures will be converted at $23.33 each into American depository shares in 2014. The debentures will mature on October 30, 2014.

The company is in the midst of a bidding war for more than a year with Group Mexico to acquire bankrupt Canadian mining company Asarco.

It topped its rival’s offer for the copper miner by almost 3 per cent last month, to $2.57 billion. A decision on the sale is expected on Monday.

Sterlite and Grupo Mexico want to buy Asarco to gain control of copper mines in Arizona. Prices of the metal doubled this year on rising Chinese demand and optimism that the US economy will recover from a recession.