JSPL raises Rs 12 billion via issue of equity shares through QIP

Steel major Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) on Friday said it has raised Rs 12 billion via issue of equity shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP).

The company has issued 51,502,145 equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each at a price of Rs 233 per share, including a premium of Rs 232, JSPL said in a regulatory filing.

"We had thought of an issue of Rs 900 crore (9 billion) only but looking at the positive response of our domestic and international investors, we decided to close the issue at Rs 1,200 crore (12 billion) and not Rs 900 crore (9 billion)," JSPL Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Deepak Sogani told PTI.

He further said, we launched the issue at a price band of Rs 225-Rs 233, which was the market price at that time. We got 2.2 times demand.

When asked where the funds would be deployed, Sogani said, "Currently, our focus is on increasing business volume and ramping up production."

The Naveen Jindal-led firm is expanding capacity of its Angul plant in Odisha.

"A bulk of the money raised from the equity transaction will help the company in ramping up volume and augmenting working capital," Sogani added.

JSPL has presence in steel, power, mining and infrastructure sectors. The company operates coal-based sponge iron plant and has an installed capacity of 3 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) of steel at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh.

In January, JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal had said the company planned to raise around Rs 1,000 crore (10 billion) through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.

Shares of the company today ended 5.43 per cent lower at Rs 212.55 apiece on BSE.