DLF board approves sale of shares to meet Sebi norm

NEW DELHI: Realty major DLF today said it will issue fresh equity shares to dilute the promoter group holding in the company to meet Sebi norms of 25 per cent minimum public shareholding.

Promoters currently hold 78.58 per cent stake in the firm and offer of fresh shares would help them in reducing their stake to below 75 per cent.

Sources said DLF is likely to offer over 8 crore shares, which will be worth Rs 2,100 crore at current market price.

In a filing to the BSE, DLF said the board of directors, in its meeting held today, approved offer of shares via Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) or other routes.

"...to achieve the minimum public shareholding, (board) approved offering of equity shares by way of Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) and/or any other method prescribed and approved by SEBI...," the filing said.

As per market regulator Sebi norms, private sector firms should have a minimum 25 per cent public shareholding by June this year.

The board approved convening of shareholders' meet on April 4 to obtain their approval. It also formed an " Equity Issuance Committee" of the board to take necessary steps.

The funds raised would be used to trim debt that stood at Rs 21,350 crore at the end of December 2012.

Shares of DLF closed at Rs 269.55 a piece on the BSE, up nearly four per cent from the previous closing. The company's market cap stood at Rs 45,787 crore.

DLF has been selling its non-core businesses since the last couple of years to focus on core real estate business and cut its huge debt.

In August, DLF had sold a 17-acre land in Mumbai to Lodha Developers for Rs 2,727 crore. In December, it had announced the sale of Amanresorts back to founder Adrian Zecha for about Rs 1,650 crore.

In the current quarter, DLF sold wind turbine business in Gujarat to Bharat Light & Power for Rs 282.30 crore.

Apart from 150-MW Gujarat unit, DLF has wind turbines in Rajasthan (34 MW), Tamil Nadu (33 MW) and Karnataka (11 MW) and the company is in advanced stages of negotiations to sell these as well.

DLF, the country's largest real estate developer, had reported 10.23 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 284.80 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 compared with Rs 258.35 crore in the year-ago period.

Income from operations declined to Rs 1,310.04 crore in the third quarter compared with Rs 2,034.37 crore in the same period of 2011-12. DLF expects the debt to reduce at Rs 19,000 crore level by end of this fiscal from proceeds of non-core assets sale.