Hotel chain OYO Hotels & Homes is looking to raise $1 billion (Rs 6,945 crore at current exchange rate) in a fresh round of funding from new and existing investors at a valuation of $10 billion (Rs 69,455 crore at current exchange rate), three people familiar with the development told The Times of India.
“The company is looking at a new lead investor and there is high interest from both financial and strategic investors,” said one of the people.
SoftBank, an existing backer, holds a little over 46% stake after investing close to $1 billion. The sixth-largest hotel chain in the world has recently expanded aggressively in China and Europe.
Meanwhile, troubled Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL)’s promoter group Wadhawan Global Capital is in talks with private equity investor Apollo Global Management to sell a sizeable stake in the company, The Economic Times said.
The company has been forced to raise funds through a sale of assets after it was downgraded to default by rating agencies. The company in a statement said that it has repaid debt worth Rs 40,000 crore, out of the Rs 90,000 crore that stood at the end of the second quarter in 2018-19. As part of the fund-raising, DHFL has sold a large chunk of its home loan portfolio to public sector banks like State Bank of India (SBI).
Separately, two people in the know told Mint that London-based Hinduja Group will halt negotiations to buy a stake in troubled Jet Airways, while Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has put off a plan to add more investments in the airline.
“The Hinduja Group has taken a back seat as far as bidding is concerned, citing heightened risk due to ongoing government investigations and the recent insolvency pleas submitted by creditors at the bankruptcy tribunal,” one of the people said.
Two operational creditors, Shaman Wheels Pvt. Ltd, a motor dealership in Mumbai, and Gaggar Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, a mineral water producer in Ahmedabad, filed separate pleas on Monday against Jet at the bankruptcy tribunal.
Jet’s total liabilities, including unpaid salaries and vendor dues, are nearly Rs 15,000 crore. Jet hasn’t flown since 17 April after it grounded all its operations due to an acute shortage of funds.
Separately, people in the know told Mint that the Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus Fund is acquiring for around $150 million (Rs 1,041.4 crore at current exchange rate) two annuity road assets based in Assam from Hyderabad-based Navayuga Group.
Last year in May, VCCircle reported that the fund plans to raise additional $668 million (Rs 4,500 crore) over the next 12 months, having already secured $297 million, or Rs 2,000 crore.
The acquisition of the Navayuga roads marks the second investment by the fund. Last week, Subhash Chandra-led Essel group sold two transmission assets owned by Essel Infraprojects to the same fund.
