Piramal Enterprises sells DRG business to Clarivate Analytics for $950 mn

Piramal Enterprises on Friday said it has signed an agreement for the sale of its Decision Resources Group (DRG) business to US-based Clarivate Analytics for $950 million (over Rs 6,745 crore).

This divestment is expected to be completed by end of February 2020, Piramal Enterprises (PEL) said in a statement.

PEL DRG Dutch HoldCo BV, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the company, has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of DRG to Clarivate Analytics plc for a consideration of $950 million, it said.

This includes $900 million on closing and $50 million to be received at the end of 12 months from the date of closing, it added.

Shares of Piramal Enterprises were trading at Rs 1,632 per scrip on BSE, up 5.50 per cent from their previous close.

Piramal Enterprises to raise Rs 2,750 cr via bonds in multiple tranches

Piramal Enterprises on Wednesday said it will raise up to Rs 2,750 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis. "A meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Saturday, 28th December, 2019, to consider and approve the issue of secured non-convertible debentures on private placement basis amounting up to Rs 2,750 crore," it said in a regulatory filing.

Piramal Enterprises said the money can be raised in one or more tranches from time to time.

Piramal gets waiver on debt contract after offering to pay Rs 15 bn early

Piramal Enterprises, a company controlled by Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal, has offered to repay a Rs 15 billion ($208 million) debt to Standard Chartered early after getting a waiver on a covenant, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The flagship company of the group -- which runs non-bank financiers and a drug maker -- hasn’t furnished additional security, as mandated, for the 9.5 per cent notes maturing in January, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules. Piramal has offered to repay the debt using money raised from a preference issue to Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, and from other sources, the people said.

It’s a very “routine treasury transaction,” Piramal Enterprises said in an email response. “Requests for waiver within timelines are part of normal and ordinary course of day-to-day treasury operations of any company (in any sector) and are not necessarily linked to the liquidity position of the firm.”

Many Indian shadow lenders are reeling from a prolonged upheaval in the nation’s credit markets, which has hurt cash flow and curtailed their ability to repay loans. Moody’s Investors Service, which this month cut its rating outlook for India, said it doesn’t expect the squeeze among financiers to be resolved soon, and warned the crunch could worsen.

Requests of such nature from clients “are common and received in normal course of business,” Rahul Virkar, a spokesman at Standard Chartered said in an email.

Piramal Enterprises’ shares gained for a second day, paring the year-to-date loss to 25 per cent.

Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd. and Piramal Realty Ltd. had their ratings cut this year with assessors citing heightened refinancing risk for property developers for the move.

Piramal Enterprises, which is in the process of raising about $770 million through a rights offer, and debentures to shore up finances, is also in discussions for a fresh bridge loan from Standard Chartered once the debt is repaid using its holdings in the Shriram group as collateral, one of the people said.

“We assure you that the funding arrangements for repayment of the NCDs are already in place and there is absolutely no concern on the same,” the company said in the email, referring to the non-convertible debentures.

Piramal Enterprises files complaint with Sebi against 'misleading rumours'

Piramal Enterprises on Thursday said it has filed a complaint with markets regulator Sebi against spreading of "misleading rumours" about the company.

Certain market participants are spreading false/misleading rumours against the company's financial services business in an attempt to create panic among various stakeholders, it said in a regulatory filing.

"In the interest of all our stakeholders, Piramal Enterprises has filed a complaint with Sebi against publishing and spreading misleading rumours about the company on blogs, social media platforms and WhatsApp," it said.

Enlisting the current position of its financial services business, it said the total borrowings stand at Rs 39,000 crore, which is nearly 75 per cent of its loan book and in the past one year, it has received total inflows of Rs 45,000 crore which comprised 85 per cent of the loan book as of September 2018.

Besides, it said the company has raised Rs 24,000 crore as long-term funds since October 2018, which reflects the confidence of lenders on the quality of the loan book and the underlying assets.

"We received nearly Rs 19,000 crore in the form of repayments / pre-payments from borrowers in the last one year, reflecting our client selection and the consistent trend in their sales," it added.

The company disbursed about Rs 19,000 crore during October 2018 to September 2019 of which Rs 5,000 crore was disbursed towards retail business of housing finance.

It has repaid debt obligations of Rs 30,000 crore in the past one year, of which Rs 5,300 crore was repaid in second quarter of the current fiscal, it said further.

Piramal Enterprises stock was trading 2.39 per cent down at Rs 1,361.90 on BSE.