HPCL acquires Shapoorji to set up 5 million tonnes of LNG
Shapoorji Pallonji Group is selling its wager in SP Ports Private (SPPPL) to joint venture partner HPCL for an unrevealed amount. The company had entered into a joint endeavor with the state-owned refiner to set up a 5 million tonnes per annum LNG re-gasification terminal.10,900 crore debt restructuring of SP Group to the KV Kamath Committee for final endorsement, after the banking regulator, accepted the committee report which allows firms to recast their debt for two years.
The group is reportedly looking to sell fractional or full stakes in group firms such as Eureka Forbes, Afcons Infrastructure, and Sterling & Wilson Solar and the proceeds will be used to trim some of its debt. The group has a total debt of over 22,000 crores.
Supreme Court handed down its judgment last week in the battle between the Tata and the Cyrus Mistry camp, the banks have turned very careful and are reluctant to increase their experience to the group. The top court ruling on March 26 was a big win for Tata Sons in its four-year-long quarrel with the Mistry family, its single largest stakeholder. The top court, however, refused to determine a fair value to the Mistry family’s 18.3 percent holding in Tata Sons.
The lenders would like the SP group to raise funds through asset sale before the liability overhaul is agreed upon. The other option is to pledge the shares held by the SP group in Tata Sons but that cannot be done now because of the court order.
HPCL in a regulatory filing states, “ Company has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) dated March 27, 2021, for the acquisition of 50 percent of the paid-up equity share capital of the Target Entity from SP Ports Private Limited."
HPCL Shapoorji Energy Pvt (HSEPL) is a correlate unlisted company of HPCL and a 50:50 JV with SP Ports, a unit of Shapoorji Pallonji Group. HSEPL is in the route of the situation up and developing the re-gasification terminal at Chhara, Gujarat with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum.