DLF share sale via IPP route fetches over Rs 1,863 cr

Realty major DLF has raised more than Rs 1,863 crore through issue of shares to institutional investors.

The company has fixed the price for sale of over 8.1 crore shares through the Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) at Rs 230 per share. The IPP, which was held on Tuesday, was oversubscribed and the price range was between Rs 222-233.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, DLF said it has fixed the price at Rs 230 per share, mopping up "Rs 18,634,235,910". The share sale elicited good response, especially from foreign entities, with as many as 81,018,417 shares issued through institutional placement.

The bankers to the DLF issue were Standard Chartered Securities (India), Deutsche Equities India, DSP Merrill Lynch, J P Morgan India, CLSA India, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and UBS Securities India.

The share sale was done to comply with the Securities and Exchange Booard of India's (Sebi) 25 per cent public shareholding norms for listed private sector companies. At the end of 2013 March quarter, promoters held 78.58 per cent stake in DLF.

DLF's issue could be the biggest fund-raising through the IPP route so far. In the real estate space, Godrej Properties had raised Rs 470 crore through IPP last year. Prestige Estates raised Rs 364 crore this year via the IPP route.

The latest sale of shares is the third major fund raising exercise by DLF.

DLF had launched Initial Public Offer (IPO) at Rs 525 a share to raise over Rs 9,000 crore in 2007, while promoters had sold 9.9 per cent stake in 2009 for Rs 3,860 crore.

In the IPP document, DLF had said it would use the net proceeds of the issue for reducing debt and working capital requirement among other purposes.

The company's net debt stood at Rs 21,350 crore at the end of the 2012 calendar year.

DLF has been selling its non-core businesses since 2010 to focus on core business and cut huge debt. It has raised about Rs 8,000 crore through this process so far.

With inputs from PTI