Larsen & Toubro gets nod to raise up to Rs 9,600 cr

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said on Friday that it has received shareholders’ nod to raise up to R9,600 crore through a mix of equity and equity-linked instruments.

In a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the company said it had received shareholders’ approval at its annual general meeting (AGM) held on August 26 to issue convertible bonds and/or equity shares through depository receipts of an amount not exceeding R3,600 crore or $600 million, whichever is higher. These would be sold to financial institutions, also called a qualified institutional placement (QIP).

Further, the company also received approval to issue non-convertible debentures aggregating to R6,000 crore in one or more tranches.

At the AGM, shareholders passed another resolution proposing the appointment of deputy managing director SN Subrahmanyan who took charge of his office in October 2015.

In his speech at the AGM, AM Naik, group executive chairman of L&T had said the company’s goal is to achieve a revenue of R2 lakh crore by 2021, without compromising on margins and to achieve an order inflow in excess of R2.5 lakh crore per annum. He added that this would be done as the company sharpens its focus in select growth businesses such as information technology, technology services, defence, smart cities and water management.

He said that the company would prioritise an asset-light model as it sought to aggressively restructure its various small business verticals either by disposing these or finding other alternative options. For instance, L&T is exiting the insurance business and has agreed to sell its stake in L&T Insurance to HDFC Ergo. The transaction is awaiting clearance from the Insurance Reglatory Development Auuthority (IRDA). Earlier, the company sold its stake along with Tata Steel in Dhamra Port in Odisha to Adani Ports & SEZ for a total consideration of R5,500 crore. The company is also in the process of selling off Kattupalli port in Tamil Nadu.

Larsen & Toubro’s shares on Friday closed down 2.2% at R1496.80 on BSE.

Larsen & Toubro Limited