Mistry family in talks to refinance Rs 18,000 cr of debt

Mumbai: The Mistry family, promoters of Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, have begun engagement with lenders to refinance the maturing ₹18,000 crore ($2.2 billion) it borrowed from Ares SSG and US hedge fund Farallon Capital. These bonds are coming up for repayment in June next year.

The debt is held by the Mistry family under Sterling Investment Corp. Pvt Ltd (SICPL), which owns a 9.182% stake in Tata Sons.

These bonds were issued in 2021 and had a tenor of three and a half years. The group has sounded out a few large funds and global banks, two sources said.

"The discussions are in the initial stages, with inquiries made to banks for the debt refinance of the amount raised in 2021 from Ares and Farallon and their repayment is due in June," said a bank source. "SP Group is engaging with funds as the pricing benchmark is set at 18.75%, based on the last fund raise."

Emails sent to Shapoorji Group and Farallon remained unanswered till press time while Ares SSG spokesperson declined to comment.

In June, SP Group's Goswami Infratech Pvt Ltd raised ₹14,300 crore through bond sales at a high yield of 18.75% by pledging Cyrus Investment Pvt Ltd's (CIPL) 9.185% stakeholding in Tata Sons. It was used to largely refinance upcoming maturities of CIPL debt.



Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Bank were lead arrangers for this deal, which saw several special situation funds and private credit funds including Cerberus Capital, Varde Partners, Canyon Capital, and Davidson Kempner participate, allowing Goswami Infratech to raise a huge amount.

Ares SSG is an Asia-Pacific-based alternative asset manager with existing relationship with Mistry Group and had also participated in the Goswami Infratech NCDs.

The group, operating across various sectors including engineering and construction, real estate, infra, energy, and water, has been in the process of monetising Afcons and Gopalpur Ports, with due diligence initiated for Afcons and strategic buyer discussions underway for Ports, it had told investors in June.