DLF raises Rs 3,173 cr via QIP; to prepay debt

Realty major DLF Friday said it has raised Rs 3,173 crore by selling shares to institutional investors through its QIP offer. DLF, the country's largest real estate firm in market value, would utilise this amount mainly to prepay debt, which stood at around Rs 7,000 crore at the end of December 2018. On Monday, the company had launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, offering up to 17.3 crore shares to investors. The issue closed Thursday. In a regulatory filing, DLF Friday informed that the Securities Issuance Committee has approved the allotment of 17.3 crore equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers at an issue price of Rs 183.40 per share, aggregating to about Rs 3,172.82 crore.

Sources on Tuesday had said that DLF's QIP issue has been oversubscribed by two times, enabling the company to raise around Rs 3,200 crore. Major institutional investors who participated in QIP offer include Oppenheimer, UBS, HSBC, Marshall & Wace, Myriad, Key Square, Goldman Sachs, Indus, Eastbridge, Tata Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, sources had said.

This is the third major fundraising from DLF. In 2007, DLF raised about Rs 9,200 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). In 2013, the company had raised nearly Rs 1,900 crore through an institutional placement programme.

Meanwhile, the committee Friday also approved the conversion of 24.97 crore compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) issued to promoters entities into equal number of equity shares at Rs 217.25 per share. In December 2017, the company's board had allotted on preferential basis 37.97 crore CCDs and nearly 13.81 crore warrants to promoters entities against their infusion of funds in DLF. DLF's group Chief Financial Officer Ashok Tyagi recently said the QIP proceeds and further infusion of Rs 2,500 crore from promoters against the issue of warrants would help the company to significantly reduce its debt.

DLF promoters K P Singh and family have already infused Rs 9,000 crore in the company and would pump in Rs 2,250 crore more. In lieu of this fund, DLF had issued CCDs and warrants to the promoters.

As infusion of the fund by promoters could have led to an increase in their shareholdings beyond permissible limit of 75 per cent, the company planned QIP to maintain minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent in a listed entity. In August 2017, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore and infused bulk of this amount in the company to cut net debt.