Bilt Paper planning to raise INR400 crore from investment banks

Bilt Paper, an arm of Ballarpur Industries Ltd. (BILT) is in talks to raise INR400 crore for improving its working capital situation. The firm is in discussion with Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs for the funding round. The talks are still early and the terms of the loan, which will have an equity upside, are still being discussed. Bilt Paper is primarily looking to raise short-term debt, which is typically less than a year, extending up to 364 days.

The company has been under stress due to working capital shortage from some time, and has also kept some of its plants shut due to the same. BILT need immediate cash infusion to refinance its maturing debt obligations in an environment of weakening paper demand globally. In FY16, the company reported net sales of INR4,221 crore with an Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of INR732 crore. However, it had an annual interest outlay of INR463 crore, signifying the rapidly deteriorating debt condition.

Ballarpur Industries is the flagship company of the Avantha Group and is one of India’s largest producers of writing and printing paper. The company’s subsidiaries include Ballarpur International Graphic Paper Holdings B.V. and Sabah Forest Industries, Malaysia’s largest pulp and Paper Company.