The board of PNB Housing Finance has terminated a Rs 4,000-crore fund raising deal with a Carlyle-led group of investors citing pending legal issues which may delay regulatory approvals, thus preventing them taking control of the lender.
“There continues to be no visibility or certainty as to the timeline for judicial determination of the legal issues...in addition, regulatory approvals required for the Preferential Issue, are pending and it is unclear whether such approvals will be forthcoming while the legal proceedings are ongoing,” PNB Housing said, in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India had asked PNB Housing to halt a preferential allotment of shares and warrants to entities including Pluto Investments, an affiliate of the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, Salisbury Investments Private Ltd. and Alpha Investments to raise Rs 4,000 crore. PNB Housing had challenged the SEBI order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal which passed a split verdict, after which SEBI has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.