Shapoorji Pallonji Fundraise: Tata Sons' Shares Not Enough Collateral For Distressed Debt Investors
Investors are asking for additional security as they are not comfortable with the pledge enforceability.
Investors looking to dip into distressed Shapoorji Pallonji Group's latest fundraising deal are demanding additional collateral apart from pledged Tata Sons' shares, two people aware of the matter told NDTV Profit. SP Group is seeking to raise over Rs 20,000 crore from investors, after Power Finance Corp. passed on a loan discussion.
Investors are asking for additional security as they are not comfortable with the pledge enforceability, the first person quoted above said.
This has come as some of the potential investors had written to the Tata Group seeking their view on enforceability of pledged shares or transferability of these shares. According to the people quoted above, Tata Group is said to have not allowed sale of shares in the event of a default.
An email seeking comments from the Tata Group did not receive a response at the time of publishing this report.
On Nov. 8, Power Finance Corp. Chairman and Managing Director Parminder Chopra had said during the second quarter analysts' call that the company had done a detailed due diligence, but somehow the board in its wisdom decided that since it's a new sector, they may not take that high-end exposure.
"So finally, we have decided not to go ahead with the sanctioning of the loan for Shapoorji Pallonji," Chopra had said.
SP group has offered its real estate assets as additional security for the impending fundraising deal, the second person quoted above said. Previously, the group had offered the same real estate assets during the loan negotiations with PFC, this person added.
Deutsche Bank is the lead manager of the latest fundraise. An email seeking comments from Shapoorji Pallonji and calls to Deutsche Bank remained unanswered.
Last year, Goswami Infratech, an SP Group company, had raised Rs 14,300 crore through April 30, 2026 bond, at a coupon of 18.75%. These funds were raised on pre-conditions that include monetising both its Dharamtar and Gopalpur port assets, listing Afcons Infrastructure to service this debt and the group's 9.2% equity stake in Tata Sons to be provided as collateral.
So far, the group has made partial repayment from the sale of two of its ports worth over Rs 3,000 crore. In October, SP Group raised over Rs 5,400 crore from the group company’s listing of Afcons Infrastructure.
