Lodha Group's UK subsidiary firm raises $200 million to pare debt

Realty firm Lodha Group on Friday said its UK subsidiary has raised $200 million (around Rs 1,473 crore) through issuance of bonds in the Singapore market and the amount will be used to repay debt.

Lodha Developers International Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mumbai-based Macrotech Developers (earlier known as Lodha Developers), closed its dollar bond-issue and raised $200 million in Senior Secured Notes maturing in 2023.

Lodha Developers International launched $225 million bond-issue on February 27. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore Exchange.

The proceedswill be used to fully repay its outstanding $324 million Senior Notes due on March 13, 2020, a company statement said.

"We closed the bond raise of $200 million with leading global investors. Several existing investors increased their position. Bankers to the deal were JP Morgan, UBS and CLSA," said Macrotech Developers MD & CEO Abhishek Lodha.

Many global investors, including Allianz, Citi, UBS, and Fidelity, invested in this bond-issue, sources said on Thursday. In addition to raising $200 million, the UK subsidiary had raised GBP 86 million (Rs 800 crore) last month.

Macrotech Developers made a foray into the London market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London for over GBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore). It is India's largest residential real estate developer by sales and construction area.

From India business, Macrotech Developers clocked net new sales of over Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19 with collections of over Rs 9,000 crore. It delivered over 10,000 offices and homes in FY 2018-19.

In the first nine months of 2019-20, sales have reached around Rs 5,000 crore, up 15 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous year. The debt of India business is around Rs 15,000 crore.

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Lodha group's UK arm launches $225-million bond issue to refinance debt

Realty firm Lodha group UK subsidiary on Thursday launched a $225 million-bond issue in the Singapore market to refinance part of its outstanding debt.

The issue has been opened and the closing date will depend on market response, sources said.

The bonds will be listed on Singapore exchanges. JP Morgan, UBS and CLSA are the merchant bankers for the issue.

Lodha Developers International, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Lodha Developers (which has been renamed Macrotech Developers), proposes to offer $225 million (around Rs 1,611 crore) aggregate principal of senior secured notes maturing in 2023.

The company would use the proceeds of the issue to refinance a part of its outstanding $324 million (around Rs 2,320 crore) senior notes due to mature in 2020.

"Earlier this week, we raised 86 million pound (Rs 800 crore) in the UK. With these proceeds and additional cash flows from our UK and India businesses, we look forward to fully repaying our 2020 USD bonds in March 2020," said Abhishek Lodha, MD and CEO, Macrotech Developers.

In November 2019, Lodha had said it had arranged $325 million to repay bonds maturing in March 2020 through infusion of funds from promoters, sale of commercial properties and refinancing against unsold inventories in London projects.

"Our $325 million bond pertaining to London business is maturing in March next year (2020). So we have arranged funds in advance to meet our obligations when bonds mature. About $155 million has been arranged through financing against unsold inventories in a London project, while another $110 million will be infused by promoters through family offices," Lodha had said.

Lodha group had made a foray into the London market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London for over GBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore).

Macrotech Developers is India's largest residential real estate developer by sales and construction area.

The company has clocked net new sales of over Rs 7,000 crore in 2018-19 with collections of over Rs 9,000 crore. It delivered over 10,000 offices and homes in FY 18-19.

In the first nine months of 2019-20, sales have reached around Rs 5,000 crore, up 15 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous year.

India business debt of the company is around Rs 15,000 crore.

Lodha Group calls for unconventional policies to fight growth woes

India’s top builder is clamoring for unconventional policy measures to get the nation out of the worst economic slump in more than six years.

“When demand is as tepid as it is right now in certain parts of the economy and sentiment is negative, we need a bazooka to come out and change sentiment,” Abhishek Lodha, managing director at Lodha Group, said in an interview.

Calls for authorities to unveil more steps have been gaining steam. India’s central bank has struggled to revive economic growth despite being the most aggressive slasher of rates among Asian peers. Government measures have also failed to spur growth. “We have a lot of liquidity, but it’s trapped liquidity in the banking system,” Lodha said.