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Gujarat boosts cash despite risks

GUJARAT NRE Coking Coal has raised $A58.15 million through its rights issue to key shareholder Ji...

Blair Price

The accelerated pro rata, non-renounceable entitlement offer is based on issuing two Gujarat shares for every three held at an issue price of 8c each.

Jindal previously held 53.3% of Gujarat and has preserved this majority position by taking up 726.88 million Gujarat shares for $58.15 million.

The offer to retail investors opened on Friday and is expected to close at 5pm AEDT on December 17.

With almost $313 million of borrowing amid its current liabilities and more than $46.5 million owed to creditors, the various “risk factors” detailed in the offer prospectus included passages on the potential winding up of Gujarat, legal proceedings and its ability to operate as a going concern.

The detailed risks also included the possibility that Gujarat’s Indian parent Gujarat NRE Coke will not pay more than $60 million it owes to the Illawarra coal miner over a coal sale.

The underground coal miner hopes to raise up to an extra $50.3 million of gross proceeds through the retail component. The money raised will go to paying outstanding creditors, outstanding workforce salaries, interest repayments, and working capital needs.

Gujarat revealed that negotiations were continuing with creditor RUS Mining Services, which it said was seeking to withdraw from the wind up proceedings it started against Gujarat in October.

The share offer to Jindal that month, plus a $50 million short-term loan facility it provided to Gujarat, helped the coal miner start to repay outstanding wages to its workforce from November 7.

Gujarat previously stopped making regular wage payments in September and has unpaid workforce superannuation commitments going back to March.

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