MUMBAI: India‘s leading MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom says it will be using the Rs 100 crore it has raised from the sale of its equity shares to alternative asset manager Steadview Capital Mauritius Ltd (SCML), LTR Focus Fund, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) SCM to retire some of its debt.

Says Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar G. Pillai: "Most of the money raised will be used to reduce our debt and to make our debt-equity ratio better. With Phase III and IV coming up soon we are open to opportunities, but at this point of time we are well funded."

One of the stars of the digitisation of cable TV rollout in India, Hathway today informed the BSE that it had preferentially allotted 35,21,000 Rs 10 face value shares to the three entities at a price of Rs 284 each. The company‘s board had got shareholder approval on 26 September for the same during the course of an extra ordinary general meeting.

"Most of the money raised will be used to reduce our debt and to make our debt-equity ratio better," says Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar G. Pillai

The break-up of the allotment is as follows: Steadview Capital Mauritius Limited (12,00,000 equities), LTR Focus Fund (8,01,000 equities) and MIT SCM (15,20,000 equities) totting up to Rs 99.99 crore.

The company‘s equity capital has increased to 15,19,98,900 shares from 14,84,77,900 prior to the allotment. SCML‘s holding in the company has jumped from 0.0008 per cent to 0.79 per cent; similarly for LTR from 0.0004 per cent to 0.53 per cent and the shareholding of MIT SCM has risen from 0.0008 per cent to one per cent. The investment has a lock in period of one year from the date of receipt of trading approval.

The promoter holding has in tandem fallen from 48.63 per cent to 47.51 per cent of the expanded share capital.

The stock market reacted positively to the news with the share closing at Rs 285.70 following its opening of Rs 270.70 and an intra-day high of Rs 288.