Pipavav Defence to exit CDR post RInfra`s open offer

New Delhi: Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering plans to exit the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package, post Reliance Infrastructure open offer.

Reliance Infrastructure would begin the Rs 1,263 crore open offer to acquire additional 26 percent stake in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company (PDOC) on December 2.

The open offer will close on December 15.

Reliance Infrastructure together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Defence Systems, has already announced a transaction for the acquisition of substantial shareholding and change of management control of Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering.

It is expected that the change of control, reconstitution of the Board of PDOC and change in the name of the company to Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd, will be completed in January 2016, a statement by Reliance Infra said today.

Pipavav Defence intends to exit the CDR package that the lenders of PDOC had approved in March 2015, subject to relevant approvals as may be necessary, it added.

The exit from the CDR is expected to lead to improved financial flexibility and increased business opportunities for PDOC, enabling the company to contribute to the security of the country and pursue the Make in India and Skill India programmes in an even more significant manner, the statement said.

In March, the Anil Ambani group firm had announced plans to acquire controlling stake in Pipavav Defence for up to Rs 2,082 crore.

Shares of Reliance Infrastructure rose by 3.30 percent to end at Rs 432.60, while Pipavav Defence closed flat at Rs 64.05, up 0.08 percent, on the BSE.