Ashok Leyland Ltd, flagship of the Hinduja Group, has raised Rs 667 crores via a Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). The capital raising comes on the back of a strong operating margin performance in Q4 – reflecting cost reduction and margin improvement measures, as well as the expectation of a turnaround in the domestic CV market. The QIP, launched on 26th June attracted a very favourable response from Institutional investors across geographies.
The fund raising committee of Ashok Leyland approved the issue and allotted 1852 lakh equity shares to eligible QIBs at an issue price of Rs 36 per share (face value of Re 1 and a premium of Rs 35 per equity share) – a premium of 5% to the SEBI floor price, aggregating approximately Rs 667 crore.
This successful QIP is reflective of the confidence investors have placed in Ashok Leyland’s history of profitability, ability to successfully tackle a difficult economic scenario and also the positive sentiment around the prospects of the commercial vehicle industry.
Commenting on the successful issue, Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, said, “This the highest amount ever raised by Ashok Leyland through an equity issue. It reinforces the strong faith reposed by investors in our company. The funds raised will help us reduce debt, as we continue to drive the performance of the company. The CV industry is also readying itself for revival in demand during the latter half of the year”.
Gopal Mahadevan, Chief Financial Officer, Ashok Leyland, said “We thank the investors for their unstinted support in the company. The issue was subscribed by Foreign Institutional Investors, Mutual Funds, and Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) amongst others. The issuance will help improve the debt and the financial position of Ashok Leyland.”
