Cochin Shipyard to raise Rs 400 crore via IPO

KOCHI: Public sector firm Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) will go for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Rs 400 crore to raise fund for its proposed expansion plans, which are estimated to cost about Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2000 crore. The company plans to offer 2.2 crore shares in the IPO.
"We will be launching the IPO this year if the government gives the approval. We are going ahead with the preparatory work, hoping that we will get the necessary approvals,'' Commodore K Subramaniam, chairman and managing director of CSL, said on Friday.
According to him, CSL intends to expand its dry dock for the underwater repairs of rigs and semisubmersibles while setting up a dedicated dry dock for oil rig repairing. The company will also be setting up off-shore fabrication facilities. "We have already operationalized the ship repairing facility we recently took over from the Cochin Port Trust. Our new ship-lifting system is expected to be commissioned in about four to five years,'' he said.
Ravi Kumar Roddam, director-finance of CSL, said a combination of internal resources, debt and equity will be used for these expansion plans, with each of them contributing one-third of the total fund requirement.