Zee's Securities Issue & Allotment Committee approves allotment of FCCBs worth Rs 2,006 crore to investors

New Delhi: Zee Entertainment on Tuesday said the Securities Issue and Allotment Committee of the company has approved the allotment of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth Rs 2,006 crore ($239 million) to investors.

In a regulatory filing, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited said it has considered and approved the allotment of FCCBs of up to USD 239 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) maturing in 10 years on a private placement basis to Resonance Opportunities Fund, St John’s Wood Fund Ltd and Ebisu Global Opportunities Fund.

On July 16, the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) approved the raising of funds through FCCBs with a coupon rate of 5 per cent of up to Rs 2,006 crore ($239 million) from investors - Resonance Opportunities Fund, St. John’s Wood Fund Ltd and Ebisu Global Opportunities Fund.

These FCCBs will not be listed on any of the stock exchanges, it had said.

However, investors who choose to convert their bonds into shares will pay Rs 160.20 per share.

"In case of conversion of all FCCBs, the proposed number of equity shares on a fully diluted basis shall be 124,670,576 of Re. 1 each of the company at the conversion price of Rs 160.20 per equity share," it said.

Earlier in July, ZEEL shareholders had approved a plan to raise Rs 2,000 crore from the market through various routes, including issuing equity shares and qualified institutions placements (QIPs) ZEEL plans to raise in one or more tranches through a private placement, a qualified institutional placement, a preferential issue or a combination of them.

This is the first fundraising round after Sony Corporation terminated a deal to merge its two entertainment entities in India with ZEEL.