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Shapoorji Taps Private Credit Market for $1.6 Billion

India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group is in talks to raise $1.6 billion via a private credit facility, according to people familiar with the matter, as conglomerate controlled by billionaire Shapoor Mistry looks to raise cash.

Workers labor on reinforcing steel at a flyover construction site in Patna, Bihar, India, on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. After falling into a coronavirus-fueled recession in the third quarter, India's economy has likely returned to expansion in the three months ended December, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg
Workers labor on reinforcing steel at a flyover construction site in Patna, Bihar, India, on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. After falling into a coronavirus-fueled recession in the third quarter, India's economy has likely returned to expansion in the three months ended December, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg

India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group is in talks to raise $1.6 billion via a private credit facility, according to people familiar with the matter, as conglomerate controlled by billionaire Shapoor Mistry looks to raise cash. 

Discussions are focused on a tenor of three years, with a rate of interest in the double digits, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. The engineering and infrastructure group could pledge some of its shares in Tata Sons to raise the capital, they said. 

A Shapoorji Pallonji spokesperson didn’t comment when contacted by Bloomberg via text message on Tuesday. 

The group has been seeking ways to free up cash as rising interest rates bite. It is weighing asset sales including a controlling stake in its flagship engineering firm that could raise about $2 billion, Bloomberg reported in April ,citing people familiar with the matter.

Last year, SP Group sold water purifier equipment maker Eureka Forbes Ltd. to Advent International and also divested Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd. to Reliance Industries Ltd. Following the sales, SP repaid $1.5 billion to lenders. 

Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Plc are organizing the private credit deal, while talks have involved Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Varde Partners LP, Cerberus Capital Management LP and Farallon Capital Management LLC, the people said. Part of the money raised will be used to refinance existing loans. 

Deutsche Bank and Ontario Municipal both declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. Other banks and investors did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. 

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