Hindalco In Spotlight On Clearing Bridge Loan - Nov 07, 2008

On BSE, 34.93 lakh shares were traded in the scrip. The stock hit a high of Rs 63.85 and a low of Rs 55.20 so far during the day.Hindalco had hit a 52-week high of Rs 223.30 on 15 November 2008 and a low of Rs 38.05 on 27 October 2008.Hindalco has reportedly raised $982 million in a foreign currency loan and used it to clear the bridge loan taken for its 2007 acquisition of Canadian firm Novelis.

The five-year loan was raised at 315 basis points above the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR).The company had taken a $3.03 billion bridge loan at a rate of 80 basis points over LIBOR to fund the deal last year. The bridge loan was fully repaid on Thursday, 6 November 2008.

Hindalco had raised about Rs 4400 crore through a rights issue last month, although much of that had to be covered by the firm's promoters and underwriters after falling stocks prices undermined investor interest.The company also had about Rs 5300 crore of funds from its treasury operations, the reports added.

Meanwhile, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group said in a television interview today said that Hindalco's Rs 5,047 crore rights issue was priced far below its intrinsic value.