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Haldia Petro to float initial public offering soon
Thursday, 13 January 2005, 20:30 IST
KOLKATA: Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd said Thursday that the company would float an initial public offering (IPO) soon in the bullish stock market to raise finances for future expansion projects.
Haldia Petrochemicals plans to offer 300 million shares through the book building route, said Purnendu Chatterjee, chairman of the private sector Chatterjee Group.
The Chatterjee Group is one of the main promoters of Haldia Petrochemicals, eastern India's only operational petrochemicals unit. Other promoters are the West Bengal government and the Tata Group.
"It (IPO) will happen soon. I can't give you a time-table now," Chatterjee told
mediapersons on the sidelines of the Partnership Summit 2005, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The company's board will meet next month to consider the IPO of 300 million equities, he said, adding that Haldia Petrochemicals had revived its share sale plans in view of the stock market buoyancy.
Haldia Petrochemicals has appointed JP Morgan, DSP Merrill Lynch and Kotak Securities as the lead managers of the public share-offering programme.
Chatterjee said the funds raised through the IPO would be utilised to finance future expansion projects of the company in the years ahead. He, however, didn't give details about the expansion programmes.
On the possibility of state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) picking up stake in Haldia Petrochemicals, Chatterjee said: "I am open to IndianOil taking stake. It's a very well managed company."
The proposed induction of a strategic partner into the board of Haldia Petrochemicals has been under consideration for quite some time. It was earlier reported that IndianOil might be the new partner.
The petroleum ministry had earlier turned down state-run energy giant GAIL's (Gas Authority of India Limited) proposal to take up a stake in Haldia Petrochemicals.
In fiscal 2003-04, Haldia Petrochemicals registered its maiden net profit of 
1 billion after it succeeded in restructuring its debt portfolio. The global petrochemicals market is also witnessing a major boom.
"There is no problem in making profits now. The industry outlook is also good," said Chatterjee, adding the Haldia Petrochemical's capacity utilisation has touched nearly 100 percent.
"We have solved our working capital requirement, fine-tuned product mix and sold more chemicals," he said.
Swapan Bhowmik, chief executive of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd., said the company's total sales was expected to cross 60 billion in the current fiscal year, up from some 40 billion in the previous year.
Source: IANS
1 billion after it succeeded in restructuring its debt portfolio. The global petrochemicals market is also witnessing a major boom.
"There is no problem in making profits now. The industry outlook is also good," said Chatterjee, adding the Haldia Petrochemical's capacity utilisation has touched nearly 100 percent.
"We have solved our working capital requirement, fine-tuned product mix and sold more chemicals," he said.
Swapan Bhowmik, chief executive of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd., said the company's total sales was expected to cross 60 billion in the current fiscal year, up from some 40 billion in the previous year.
Source: IANS