TATA TO SELL $1.25 BILLION OF TCS STAKE TO CUT DEBT
HONG KONG/MUMBAI: Tata Sons Ltd plans to sell $1.25 billion of its stake in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, according to terms of the transaction.
Tata Sons will sell 28.27 million shares of Asia’s largest software developer, or about 1.48% stake, according to the terms. The company plans to sell the shares at between ₹2,872 to ₹2,925 a share, the terms show. Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley are the bankers to the sale.
Tata Consultancy, which is 73.5% owned by its parent, rose 0.6% to ₹3,052.15 in Mumbai earlier on Monday.
Tata Sons will use the proceeds to pay creditors of its wireless division, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The firm will also use the funds to raise its stake in some of its units in a bid to reduce cross holdings, the person said asking not to be identified.
Tata sold Tata Teleservices Ltd’s mobile-phone operations to Bharti Airtel Ltd last year and pledged to pay the unit’s obligations. The holding company is also seeking an offshore syndicated loan, as it seeks to pay down expensive debt at telecommunications unit, people familiar with the matter said last week.