Hotel Leelaventure, a five-star hotel operator in an attempt to trim its debt pile of Rs 4,346 crore is planning to raise about Rs 1,000 crore through a share sale to institutions by December. The qualified institutional placement (QIP) would involve a dilution of about 14 percent promoter stake.
Recently, Hotel Leelaventure had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Travancore Enterprises (TEPL), to sell its luxury hotel property in Kovalam, Kerala to Travancore Enterprises (TEPL) for Rs 500 crore, in an effort to reduce its debt. The sale would be structured in such a manner that Leelaventure will transfer the hotel undertaking to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will be then acquired fully by TEPL.
Pursuant to such transfer of undertaking to the SPV, TEPL shall acquire 100% of the shares of such SPV from Leela for a total cash consideration of Rs 500 crore. Leelaventure said the deal was pursuant to the decision of the board to pursue an 'Asset Light Strategy' to reduce its debt.
