Carlyle to acquire 5.9% stake in SpiceJet

livemint.com:

₹48 per share. Shares of SpiceJet jumped on the news, rising 7.2% on the BSE on Wednesday to close at ₹31.42, on a day the benchmark Sensex index fell 1%. The company proposed to issue up to 4.81 crore equity shares of the face value of ₹10 worth ₹48.1 crore to nine associated companies of Carlyle.

The issue will be on equity conversion of Spicejet’s dues totalling $28.2 million. The company also sought shareholders’ nod to re-appoint Ajay Singh as managing director with a monthly fixed pay of ₹60 lakh a month, 2.5% of annual net profit of the company as variable pay, and other benefits. The company also sought nod to raise up to ₹2500 crore through a qualified institutional placement.

In February, SpiceJet had said that Carlyle had decided to convert $100 million of outstanding dues into equity and compulsorily convertible debentures. The board had approved a proposal to transfer compulsorily converted debentures (CCDs) of SpiceXpress and Logistics Pvt. Ltd, held by SpiceJet aggregating to $65.5 million to Carlyle Aviation, subject to regulatory approvals.

The CCDs were to be converted into equity shares of SpiceXpress at an anticipated future valuation of $1.5 billion or ₹12,422 crore, the airline had said. In February, the airline had said that it has plans to hold discussions with other lessors to further deleverage its balance sheet. The airline’s total liabilities were at about ₹14,000 crore till December 2022, and the airline has said it will engage with lessors to reduce these liabilities.