Unitech raises $575 Million via private placements

Bangalore: Unitech, a real estate firm, has raised $575 million ( 2,800 crore) through a private placement of shares with overseas investors at Rs 81 per share. The company was initially planning to raise 1,300 crore, but after looking at the healthy response from private equity players, it decided to raise about 2,800 crore.

The company is now valued at around $4.5 billion against its market capitalization of just $710 Million in November 2008, as per VC Circle. Unitech has been raising funds from the beginning of this year to improve the cash flow of the company and reduce its debt. Last month, the firm had announced that it would issue up to one billion new shares to raise long term funds. This is the second large external fund raising initiative by the firm in three months. In April, Unitech had raised $325 million by selling 421 million shares through a QIP at 38.50 per share. The investors in the first issue included Singapore's GIC, HSBC, U.K.'s Prudential, Orient Global and Sandstone Capital. Since the sharp rise in share prices these investors have more than doubled their investment value in three months.

This fund raising activity implies that liquidity flows into India have not witnessed any setback as feared in some sections of the market.