The financial unit of Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal’s conglomerate is poised to sell its biggest-ever bond, and will use the money to partly fund the takeover of failed shadow bank Dewan Housing Finance Corp.
Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd. will seek bids on Thursday for as much as 30 billion rupees ($414 million) of notes. A part of the proceeds will be used to pay for Piramal’s acquisition of mortgage lender Dewan Housing, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified.
Piramal won a bidding war for the shadow bank in January, beating out rivals including US alternative investments manager Oaktree Capital. It is seeking to expand its Indian lending operations by winning over more individual customers and diversifying its real estate loan book.
A spokesperson for the Piramal group didn’t respond to a request for comment. Piramal Capital & Housing also sold 20 billion rupees of bonds last week.
“The takeover of Dewan will aid Piramal to grow substantially overnight, which otherwise would have taken many years,” said Hemant Dharnidharka, chief executive officer at Dharni Wealth.
