According to persons familiar with the situation, Shapoorji Pallonji Group is in discussions with lenders, including the state-run Power Finance Corp., in an effort to raise as much as Rs 20,000 crore ($2.4 billion).
The persons who asked not to be named because the information is confidential claimed that the consortium, backed by Indian billionaire Shapoor Mistry, had approached Power Finance for up to Rs 15,000 crore, the largest portion of the proposed financing. They said that there are still talks going on and that the loan terms might alter.
According to the sources, it's also measuring interest from Cerberus Capital Management LP and Davidson Kempner Capital Management.
Furthermoer, as per the people, a portion of the loan proceeds - which would probably come from a privately placed rupee-bond - will be used to pay off debt that Sterling Investment Corp., the principal investment vehicle of SP Group, obtained roughly three years ago against shares of Tata Sons, the holding company of the diversified Tata Group of companies in India. According to a notice from rating agency CareEdge, Sterling has a 9.1% share in Tata Sons.
The most low-rated local currency bond issue in India was last year's Rs 14,300 crore raised by Goswami Infratech Pvt., another SP Group firm.
