sterling: Sterling & Wilson board approves Rs 1,500 crore fundraise

Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy board on Wednesday approved a proposal to raise Rs 1500 crore either in the form of debt or equity, it said in a notice to the exchange.

ET reported on September 6 that Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL) is considering an equity share sale to repay debt maturing this fiscal year.

SWERL has scheduled principal repayment of Rs 1200 crore between September 2023 and March 2024, out of which around Rs 770 crore is likely to be paid during September-October 2023, said a statement issued by ratings company IndiaRatings and Research.

Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt Ltd has an 18.5% stake in the power generating company, wherein a Reliance Industries-linked entity has picked up 40% equity in 2022. Its shares closed at Rs 358 at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

A few months ago, overseas clients invoked two bank guarantees amounting to Rs 390 crore, alleging improper execution of a project undertaken by its overseas subsidiary Sterling and Wilson International Solar FZCO. Sterling claims that the bank guarantees were wrongfully invoked and initiated legal action against the two customers, according to a stock exchange disclosure by the company.

SWREL had extended corporate guarantees towards these bank guarantees, which were issued by Emirates National Bank of Dubai, and thus, it is obligated to pay ₹390 crore by the end of October 2023.

The company has partially honoured the bank guarantee; however, as on September 1, 2023, around Rs 270 crore was yet to be honoured, IndiaRatings said in a report on September 4.

The company has an order book of Rs 490 crore on June 30. In the first quarter, it secured two projects – one each at Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – amounting to Rs 470 crore. In August, it also secured an order of 600mw amounting to Rs 1130 crore from Gujarat Industrial Power Company.

The company informed the exchange that its board has approved the raising of funds by way of issuance of equity shares, global depository receipts, depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds fully or partly convertible debentures, non-convertible debentures, or any other financial instruments convertible into equity shares (including warrants) or a combination of any of the securities.

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