Creditors At Mercy Of Shapoorji Pallonji As Another Payment Deferral Is Sought

Goswami Infratech is seeking time till Dec. 31 to make coupon payment worth Rs 1,800 crore on high-yielding bonds worth Rs 14,300 crore. The company is also seeking to raise Rs 2,100 crore worth of debt, people quoted above said.

Deutsche Bank is the manager to the latest fundraise, they said. The bondholders are not just sophisticated institutional investors, but also retail and high-net-worth individuals.

This is the second time that the company has asked for an extension to align with its refinancing. Earlier this year, the company had sought an extension from May 26 to Sept. 30, which was approved by the investors in a timely manner without any additional interest.

The delay in talks with Power Finance Corp. for a loan, deferment of Afcons Infrastructure's initial public offering by a month and the monetisation of the group's ports has prompted Goswami Infratech to seek relaxation in deadline.

PFC is said to be mulling over providing a Rs 15,000 crore loan to the Shapoorji Pallonji group. However, Chairman and Managing Director, Parminder Chopra, clarified in the April-June earnings call that diligence process is still underway and no funds have been disbursed till date.

In May, CARE Ratings had downgraded Goswami Infratech's bond to BB from BBB-, on the back of moderation in credit profile at the group level. The rating agency had also revised its outlook on the bond issue to negative from stable earlier.

Goswami Infratech's ratings are dependent on credit enhancement by Cyrus Investments, which, in turn, derives strength from its 9.2% equity stake in Tata Sons. Tata Sons is the holding company of Tata Group.

Till the time Tata Sons gives the permission to sell, Shapoorji Pallonji group cannot dilute the stake. So, investors don't have an option now. They are at the mercy of the issuer, people quoted above said.

While the quality of the collateral is not concerning, whether investors would become the absolute owner of the collateral is what has left them puzzled.

Last year, Goswami Infratech had raised Rs 14,300 crore through April 30, 2026 bond, at a coupon of 18.75% with two pre-conditions.

The first condition was to monetise both its Dharamtar and Gopalpur port assets. The second condition, a two-parter, involves a) listing Afcons Infrastructure to service this debt and b) the group's 9.2% equity stake in Tata Sons to be provided as collateral.

While the group has completed the sale of its Dharamtar port to JSW and a consideration of Rs 250 crore has been paid towards Goswami's bond payments, it is still awaiting formal approval from Orissa government on its Gopalpur port.

"Post the formal approval, the group envisages to consummate the deal by around end of September 2024/early October 2024," Axis Trustee Services Limited wrote to the bondholders. NDTV Profit has reviewed a copy of this communication.

The group expects to get Rs 850 crore from the Gopalpur port sale. With this, the total proceeds from selling the two ports will still be lower than Rs 1,500 crore, as estimated at the time of issuance of the Goswami NCDs, the trustee said.

An email seeking comments from Shapoorji Pallonji was unanswered at the time of filing this story.