MUMBAI: Ahead of its planned demerger into two separate entities and their subsequent listing, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail has finalised a capital raising plan of USD 500 million through a combination of preferential issuance and qualified institutional placement of shares.
The board of the company on Wednesday approved a preferential issue worth USD 275 million, which will be led by the promoter group investing USD 150 million and Fidelity Investments investing USD 125 million.
The promoter participation is at a significant premium of 17.5 per cent over Tuesday’s closing price.
The preferential issue will be subscribed to by Fidelity Investments through its five funds, the statement added. The board has also approved an equity issuance through the QIP route for up to USD 225 million, taking the total fund raise to USD 500 million.
This combined fundraise will deleverage the company helping it aggressively pursue growth strategy through its multiple growth engines.
This capital raise comes ahead of the proposed vertical demerger into two separately listed entities. The demerger is expected to be completed by the end of the current fiscal.
The shareholders’ meeting for approving the preferential issuance is scheduled for February 13, and the relevant date for pricing of issuance will be taken as of January 14, 2025.
Aditya Birla Fashion had a revenue of R13,996 crore as of March 2024, making it the first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse in the country.
It operates 4,538 retail stores and its brands are sold through 37,952 multi-brand outlets as well.
Its leading brands include Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England. Its operational brands include Pantaloons, Style Up, The Collective and Ralph Lauren, among others. It also has ethnic wear brands such as Jaypore, Tasva and Marigold Lane.