NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 8 MARCH 2019 COMPANIES 3. <

Suzlon set to recast ~1,200-crore overseas debtDEV CHATTERJEEMumbai, 7 March

Renewable power companySuzlon Energy has hiredHoulihan Lokey, an invest-

ment banking firm, to help itrestructure its foreign currencyconvertible bonds (FCCBs) worth~1,200 crore, which is due in July.Thebondholderswill have to takeasubstantial haircut on their invest-ment as the company’s financialshave deteriorated since the bondswere issued.

Currently, the bonds are trad-ingat adiscountof 17per centover-seas, said a source close to thedevelopment. Suzlon Energy sha-res fell by 12 per cent on Thursdayto ~7 a share on Thursday.

Bankers said in the first ninemonths of the current financialyear, the firm’s operating revenuedeclined by 47 per cent to ~3,003crore as compared to ~5,710 crore

reported in the same period of fis-cal year 2018.

The company also posted a netloss of ~794 crore in the first ninemonths of fiscal 2019 as against a

loss of ~276 crore in the same peri-od of fiscal year 2018. Suzlon has aconsolidated debt of ~10,300 croreas of September last year.

An email sent to Suzlon did not

elicit any response.According to bankers, the total

FCCBs of $547 million issued in2013, the company had alreadyconverted FCCBs of $375 milliontillDecember last year.The remain-ing FCCBsworth $172millionwereto be conversed at a rate of ~15.46per share at an exchange rate of~60.22 a dollar. While the firm’sshares have declined, the Indiancurrency has also depreciated ver-sus thedollar. Considering thecur-rent market price and the conver-sion rate, redemption of the bondswill be challenging, said a source.

Recently, Suzlon was fundingits losses and repayment obliga-tions through working capitalreduction and internal accruals.The company’s cash andbank bal-

ances and liquid investments alsofell from ~486 crore as onMarch 31to ~124crore asonDecember 31 lastyear. ExcludingFCCBs, Suzlonhasrepayments of ~156 crore due as onfirst ninemonthsof fiscal 2019 and~639 crore in the financial yearstarting April. “The firm will haveto sell assets to repay banks andbondholders,” said a lender, askingnot to be quoted.

In December last year, reportshad said the companywas lookingto sell 49 per cent stake in its sub-sidiary Suzlon Global Services tobring its debt downby40per cent.The companywas expecting a val-uationof ~8,000crore. Saleof theseassets is a key for the firm to comeback to tracks, said a banker. InFY13, Suzlon was referred to the

corporate debt-restructuring cell,as it was unable to meet its com-mitments to banks. At that time,the lenders took into account thepositive long-term outlook of thewind energy sector and the CDRpackage was approved in Decem-ber 2012 and was implemented inMarch 2013.

In 2014, the promoters of SunPharmaceuticals, led by DilipShanghvi, invested ~1,400 crore topickup23per cent stake in Suzlon.Shanghvi also invested an addi-tional ~450 crore in a wind farm.Since his investment, Suzlon’smarket value has crashed from~10,313 crore to ~2,248 crore as onThursday, leading to a substantialmark -to-market losses for theShanghvi family.

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76Aug 31,’18 Mar 3,’19

89.4

83.6

Bond price ($)9

8

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3Aug 31,’18 Mar 3,’19

7.2 6.9

BSE price (~)Currency $

Coupon rate (%) 5.75

Conversion ratio 3,895.54

Conversion price ($) 0.26

Amount issue ($mn) 546.92

Amount outstanding ($mn) 172.00

Issue date Jul 14,’14

Convertible until Jul 09,’19

Maturity Jul 16,’19

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

URVI MALVANIAMumbai,7March

Star India’sover-the-top (OTT)platform Hotstar aims toreach 300million viewers forthis year’s Indian PremierLeague (IPL). The platform isbanking on its engagementinnovations to do so. Hotstar,which has been home to theIPL in the digital space since2015, reached 202 millionviewers last year.

“This year, we are intro-ducing the first-ever socialcricket-watching experience.Viewers will be able to invitetheir friends and family towatch thematch together onHotstar, play along on theWatchN’Play game andmaketheir voices heard by chattingabout the match or theirWatch N’Play experiencewith not only their friendsand family but also withexperts and celebrities,” saysVarun Narang, chief productofficer, Hotstar.

Last year, the companyintroduced the concept ofWatch N’Play where Hotstaruserscouldplayalongwiththe

match,predictingtheoutcomeballbyballoroverbyover.Thefeature helped the OTT serv-ice gain engagement with theviewers and helped improvestickinessof thecontent, lead-ing to longer time spent onHotstar. According toNarang,data from 2018 suggests thatthose engaging with the IPLs’Watch N’Play feature spentthree times more time onHotstar than average viewers.

Hotstar has also integrateda leader board for viewers tocompete and see where theystandagainst their friendsandfamilyanduserswillbeaward-ed points, which can beredeemed from Amazon Pay.Also, through its partnershipwith Swiggy, users can ordertheir Swiggy Pop items direct-ly from theHotstar app.

Integrating brands into theexperience ofwatching IPLon

Hotstar has been one of thefocus areas for the platforms.One of the perks of digitalstreaming is the absence ofintrusive ads. However, Indiabeing predominantly an ad-supported market even forOTT platforms, selling adinventory online becomesimportanttomonetisecontent.

“Fromabrandperspective,we are doing ad targeting atscale. We are not aware of anyservice anywhere in theworldthat does live sports ad target-ingthewaywearedoingtoday.We are also offering brandedcardswithcontextualmessagetoreachconsumersat therighttime during the match,”Narang says.

Contextual branded cardsprovide brand an opportunitytoengageviewersatscalewhilethe game is in play. They canleverage key moments in amatch and use them to driveaction.SponsorsonHotstar forthe IPL include Swiggy, Ama-zon Pay, Dream11, Coca-Cola,Flipkart, Maruti Suzuki andMaggi, with more expected tocome on board as the tourna-ment kicks off onMarch 23.

HotstartomakeIPLviewing‘social’Viewerswillbeabletoinvitefriendsandfamilytowatchmatchestogether

202 millionReach in 2018

300 millionTarget reachfor 2019

10.3 millionHighestconcurrencyin 2018*Concurrency refersto the number ofpeople watching amatch on Hotstar atthe same timeSource: Hotstar

GAME ON

VIVEAT SUSAN PINTOMumbai,7March

HindustanUnilever(HUL),thecountry’s largest consumergoodscompany,is intheeyeofa stormoveranadvertisementforteabrandBrookeBondRedLabel. Reactions have been sosharp that #boycotthindusta-nunilever was among the topfive Twitter trends for a whileon Thursday, with users, in-cluding yoga guru Baba Ram-devcommentingabout it.

Theadshowsamanleavinghis father in a crowdof peopleat the Kumbh before experi-encing a change of heart. Thevideowasfirstaccompaniedbya tweet, which went: “KumbhMela is a place where old peo-ple get abandoned, isn’t it sadthatwedonotcare foroureld-ers? Red Label encourages ustoholdthehandsof thosewhomade us who we are: An eyeopener toaharsh reality.”

The tweet has been re-placedwithanewone,butneti-zensarehardlyimpressed.Thefresh tweet says: “Red Labelencourages us to hold thehands of those who made uswho we are. #ApnoKoApnao”

In a statement, HUL'sspokesperson said, “Throughthe Brooke Bond Red Labelcampaign,ourintentionwastourge people to take care of theelderly. We do not intend tohurt the sentiments of people,and have modified the tweetwhich could have been inad-vertentlymisconstrued.”

This is the second instancein three months where HUL,alsothecountry'slargestadver-tiser, has courted controversyover its commercial.

In December, toothpastebrand Closeup’s #FreeToLovecampaign was criticised onsocialmediaforshowingacou-ple breaking up because of adifference in religion. Someother short films, which werepart of the campaign, alsoshowed people in same-sexrelationships breaking upbecause of the social stigmaattached to it.

N Chandramouli, chiefexecutive officer, TRA Rese-arch, which brings out theannual Brand Trust Report,says that while controversialads can at times help a brandmakeapoint,whichhappenedinthecaseofClose-up—itwasviewedas beingopen to a sen-sitivesubject—thatcannotbesaidabouttheBrookeBondad.

“The ad has been poorlyconceived and executed. Thechai-drinking father-son duoin the ad does not convey thebrand message of Red Label,whichisaboutbringingpeopletogether over a cup of tea. Italmost seems like an after-thought. In attempting to do ajaago-re, HUL may have welldone a bhaago-re for thebrand,”he said.

Baba Ramdev tweeted:“From East India Co to@HUL_News that’s their truecharacter.Theironlyagendaistomake the country poor eco-nomically&ideologically.Whyshldwenot boycott them?Forthem everything, every emo-tionis justacommodity.Forusparentsarenext toGods.”

ATwitteruserwiththehan-dle @nanditathhakur said inresponsetoHUL'stweet:“Timeto sayNo toUnilever productsandyes to Indianbrands.”

HULdrawsflakfornewadonBrookeBond

Ascreengrabof thevideo that showsaman trying toabandonhis father at theKumbhMelabefore returning to look forhim

L&T Finance Holdings onThursday announced earlyclosure of its bond issuefollowing a 4.5 times over-subscription, raising a littleover ~2,228 crore.

The issuewas opened onMarch 6 and was scheduledto close on March 20. Thebase size of the issue was~500crore,withanoption toretain over-subscription upto ~1,000 crore.

“We raised a total of~2,228.06 crore with an sub-scriptionsof4.45times.HNIsandretail investors'participa-tion in the first tranche led toan oversubscription of 6.64times and 6.68 times inrespectivecategoriesasontheearly closure Thursday,” thecompanysaidinastatement.

In the first tranche, thecompany offered three bo-nds maturing in 37 months,60 months and 120 monthsoffering a coupon in therangeof9.10-9.35percent forretail investors, and 9-9.20per cent for institutionalinvestors. PTI

L&T Financecloses NCS issueon second day,raises ~2,228 cr

A P PO I N TM EN T S