Bajaj Hindusthan To Sell Power Business For Rs 1,227 Crore To Group Firm

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd. has reduced the deal size to sell its power business to group firm Lalitpur Power Generation Company Ltd. (LPGCL) to Rs 1,227 crore.

In December last year. the company had sought to sell its co-generation power business – with a 449 megawatt (MW) capacity at 14 locations in Uttar Pradesh – to LPGCL for about Rs 1,800 crore.

The lenders of the LPGCL had said that the transaction value should be restricted to the book value of the co-generation power business of Rs 1,227 crore as on the proposed transfer date of March 31, 2017, the company said in a stock exchange filing. As part of the revaluation of the purchase consideration of the co-generation power business, the company said it has also renegotiated the escalation to tariff for power and margin on steam to be purchased from LPGCL.

"The transaction at the revised value based on book value i.e Rs 1227 crore is still beneficial to the company on NPV basis," the filing said, adding that the transaction is expected to be completed by June.

The entire amount of cash consideration is proposed to be utilised by the company towards advance repayment of its existing term debt.

The proposed sale and transfer of co-generation power business will be subject to approval of members, lenders and all statutory/regulatory authorities.

Bajaj Hindusthan has 14 sugar mills with cane crushing capacity of 1.36 lakh tonnes per day and alcohol distillation capacity of 800 kilolitres per day. Besides sugar, the Shishir Bajaj-led Bajaj group has interests in power, ethanol, real estate, personal care products and infrastructure.

The group's power venture includes Bajaj Energy Pvt Ltd, with 450 MW thermal power generation commissioned in 2012 and the Lalitpur Power Generation Co Ltd with a total of 1980 MW thermal power generation capacity.

Promoters hold 82.5 percent stake in LPGCL, while Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar holds the rest.