SKS Microfinance Ltd has closed its qualified institutional placement (QIP), raising Rs 230 crore ($42 million) in the process, as the first tranche of a much larger fundraising plan announced last year. This is the first QIP issue in the current fiscal starting in April 2012.
The microfinance firm issued 30.4 million shares at Rs 75.40 a piece. The issue size was Rs 165 crore ($30 million), but was oversubscribed. The company had opened the QIP on July 12. Credit Suisse Securities (India) Pvt Ltd and Yes Bank Ltd were the joint global co-ordinators and book runners to the QIP.
SKS scrip was down 1.65 per cent to close at Rs 80.30 a unit on the BSE in a flat Mumbai market on Tuesday.
Shares were issued at 5.7 per cent discount to the current price. SKS scrip hit its 52-week low in May when it traded at Rs 54.4 a share, down almost 90 per cent from the share price in July 2011.
According to S Dilli Raj, CFO of SKS Microfinance Ltd, the response to the QIP validates the relevance of microfinance for financial inclusion in India. “QIP proceeds of Rs 230 crore and the proposed preferential allotment for Rs 33.50 crore, aggregating Rs 263.50 crore, bring in the much-needed growth capital. This capital raise reinforces the confidence reposed in us by our credit granters and exponentially enhances our debt fund-raising ability,†he said.
SKS Microfinance is in the process of raising Rs 33.55 crore through a preferential allotment to a fund managed by the existing investor WestBridge Capital Partners.
The company reported networth of Rs 435 crore as of March 31, 2012, which increases to Rs 700 crore (approx.) post the QIP and the proposed preferential allotment. It had reported a loss of Rs 1,360 crore during FY12, compared to a profit of Rs 111.63 crore during FY11.
Earlier, SKS Microfinance said that it had plans to raise Rs 900 crore through a QIP and received interests from a few of its existing investors.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)