RInfra board approves proposal to raise Rs 2,930 crore through FCCBs

Approves ESOP scheme for all its employees and those of its subsidiaries

The board of directors at Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) on Tuesday approved raising funds up to ₹2,930 crore ($350 million) through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs).

The company said it will issue FCCBs to VFSI Holdings Private Limited, an affiliate of Värde Investment Partners, LP, a global alternative investment firm. Up to 350 FCCBs of $1 million each are proposed to be issued, and unlisted.

The FCCBs will be unsecured and will have an “ultra-low cost coupon of five per cent per annum with a maturity period of 10 years”. The FCCBs will be convertible into equity shares at ₹330 per share, according to the company’s stock exchange filing.

In the Tuesday meeting, the board also “approved an Employees Stock Option Scheme (ESOS) for all employees of the company and its subsidiaries. ESOS provides for the grant of up to 26 million fully paid-up equity shares of ₹10 each, representing approximately 5 per cent of the company’s fully diluted capital.”

The approved fund raise is in addition to a preferential issue worth ₹3,014 crore and a qualified institutional placement (QIP) of ₹3,000 crore, that the company announced on September 19.

Earlier on September 18, the company announced a reduction in its standalone external debt to ₹475 crore, down from ₹3,831 crore.

A week ago, Rosa Power, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, said it has prepaid ₹850 crore of debt to Singapore-based lender Varde Partners as part of its efforts to clear liabilities ahead of schedule.

The company’s total market capital stands at around ₹13,111.94 crore. Its shares closed at ₹332.15 on the Bombay stock exchange (BSE).