PNB Housing hits the roof after board OKs capital raise proposal of Rs 4,000 cr

PNB Housing Finance hit an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 525.20 after the company announced that its Board has approved a capital raise of up to Rs 4,000 crore, led by entities affiliated to The Carlyle Group Inc.

PNB Housing will raise Rs 3200 crore through preferential equity shares and Rs 800 crore through warrants. The issue price of equity shares and warrants is fixed at Rs 390 each.

Pluto Investments, an affiliated entity of Carlyle Asia Partners IV and Carlyle Asia Partners V, (together, "Carlyle") has agreed to invest up to Rs 3,185 crore through a preferential allotment of equity shares and warrants, at a price of Rs 390 per share. Existing shareholders of the company, funds managed by Ares SSG and General Atlantic, are also participating in the capital raise. PNB will continue to be the promoter and a key stakeholder in the company.

The proposed transaction has triggered a mandatory open offer by Pluto Investments for the purchase of up to 26% equity shares of PNB Housing Finance from public shareholders. The open offer is for acquisition of up to 7,07,93,011 fully paid up equity shares of PNB Housing Finance, representing 26% of the expanded voting share by Pluto Investments. The open offer is being made at a price of Rs 403.22.

As part of this transaction, Salisbury Investments, the family investment vehicle of Aditya Puri, Senior Advisor for Carlyle in Asia and the former CEO & managing director of HDFC Bank, will also invest in the capital raise. Aditya Puri is expected to be nominated to the PNB Housing Finance board as a Carlyle nominee director in due course.

PNB Housing saidf that the key objective of raising capital is to augment capital adequacy, reduce gearing and accelerate growth with a focus on retail housing including self-employed and affordable housing loans such as the Unnati segment. Assuming full capital infusion (including warrants) and no other change to the 31 March 2021 financials, the capital adequacy ratio of the company as of 31 March 2021 would increase from 18.7% to over 28% and gearing as of 31 March 2021 will decline from 6.7x to less than 5x.

Aditya Puri, Senior Advisor for Carlyle in Asia and the former CEO & managing director of HDFC Bank, said, "I believe PNB Housing Finance with its enhanced capital base is very well positioned to meet the growing demand in its areas of operation. I look forward to helping the Company in this exciting journey."

PNB Housing Finance is a deposit-accepting housing finance company, with second largest deposits outstanding within housing finance companies. The company provides housing loans to individuals for purchase, construction, repair, and upgrade of houses.

On a consolidated basis, PNB Housing reported a net profit of Rs 127 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 242 crore in Q4 FY20. Total income fell 6% to Rs 1,833.90 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

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