Infrastructure company Lanco Infratech Ltd is set to raise up to $1 billion (about Rs 5,500 crore) by March by sale of assets and equity infusion.
The infusion will be by way of sale of equity covering power projects, road assets and other segments, according to L. Madhusudhana Rao, Executive Chairman.
Speaking on the sidelines of the company annual general meeting here, the Lanco chief said the company has an installed capacity of 4,000 MW and implementing about 10,000 MW of power projects in all. “We plan to raise up to $750 million by sale divestment of equity in the power sector alone.
“We believe that the 10,000-MW capacity which is under the company portfolio, including those under implementation by 2015 are worth $10 billion (about Rs 55,000 crore). By divesting equity stake, we will bring down the overall debt-equity ratio to about 4:1 from about 4.3: 1,” he added.
In fact, Lanco consolidated various power assets and was in the process of finalising a public offer. However, the market conditions are no longer conducive. “Therefore, we are engaged in talks with private equity players to divest stake. We would have actually closed the deals but now we expect to close it by March,” he said.
The company plans to deploy $150 million in solar projects now at various stages of execution. Therefore, the fund raising would span power, roads and solar power segments.
Earlier, shareholders demanded the company management to consider dividend and bonus to reward them. The management stated that the conditions are tough for infra companies and it will take about few quarters more for things to get better.