Mumbai: Anchor investors in the bonds of a Shapoorji Pallonji Group company, including Ares Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Deutsche Bank, Davidson Kempner and Farallon Capital, have agreed to extend the relaxation on the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of pledged securities till September 30, people familiar with the matter said.
Getting bondholders' approval for the relaxed covenant is crucial for the group to proceed with its Deutsche Bank-led dual-currency refinancing bid. With a plan to raise about ₹22,000 crore in the first tranche, this will be one of the largest private refinancing transactions in India.
Remaining investors in Porteast Investment's $3.4 billion bonds are expected to grant their approvals for LTV extension this week, the people said. The company issued the paper last year at a 19.75% yield, pledging the group's 18.38% stake in Tata Sons as collateral.
The group is targeting to launch the transaction in the first week of July and close it by mid-month, allowing it to address near-term maturities.
The SP Group and the investors did not respond to emails seeking comment until press time on Sunday.
The lenders had earlier allowed a request to increase the LTV threshold to 40% from 34% until July 15, after the value of the collateral fell following a drop in the price of Tata Group's listed shares.
Investor sentiment has now improved after the Reserve Bank of India last week finalised its framework for upper-layer non-bank financial companies, retaining the ₹1 lakh crore asset threshold.
With this change, bondholders expect Tata Sons, India's largest unlisted company and the holding company of the Tata Group, will need to go for public listing, although no timeline has been indicated.
People involved in the discussions said investors did not seek any formal commitment from the SP Group on the timing of a Tata Sons initial public offering. "The discussion was around obtaining clarity on the LTV covenant rather than seeking any commitment on a Tata Sons listing," one of the people said.
Earlier, some investors, particularly Ares, had pushed for clarity from the SP Group on Tata Sons stake monetisation and deleveraging.
Separately, investors in SP Group company Goswami Infratech's ₹14,300 crore bonds have approved a proposal to extend the maturity of the securities by a month to July 31. The company has agreed to pay a 30-basis-point consent fee, higher than the 25 basis points paid when the papers were first extended from April to June.
