Hotel Leelaventure's board, which met yesterday, approved to raise funds up to Rs 1,000 crore through issue of securities on preferential basis or qualified institutional placement in one or more tranches at an appropriate time, the filing said.
The board, also approved allotment of equity shares on preferential basis to a promoter group company for an aggregate value not exceeding Rs 100 crore, including premium, it added.
"After the close of the quarter, promoter group companies have pledged 1.03 crore shares. Hence, the pledged shares of the promoters as on date stands at 19.76 crore shares constituting 50.96 per cent of the outstanding shares of the company," the company said.
Meanwhile, the board said its net loss widened nearly four-fold to Rs 101.88 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 26.49 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Hotel Leelaventure Ltd said in a filing to the BSE.
Net sales of the company, however, rose to Rs 138 crore for the June quarter, as compared to Rs 112.03 crore during the same period of 2011-12 fiscal.
During the quarter, the company's total expenses stood at Rs 154.06 crore, as compared to Rs 112.91 crore during the same period of previous financial year.
Shares of Hotel Leelaventure today closed at Rs 31.45 apiece on the BSE, up 1.94 per cent from their previous close.
The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts is owned and managed by Hotel Leelaventure Limited which was established in 1987 in Mumbai.
Hotel Leelaventure is evaluating options of entering the four and five star hotel category in tier-II cities in India under a different brand.
“The final proposal and concept will be rolled out in a month’s time. These hotels are planned in cities like Chandigarh, Raipur and Ahmedabad,” Vivek Nair, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Hotel Leelaventure, told Business Line.
The company, which has a debt of Rs 4,300 crore on its books, is also evaluating expansion in the overseas markets through the management contract route.
As part of its expansion plans, the hospitality major is planning to follow an asset light model in the medium term (that is, enter into more management contracts rather than owning and building hotel properties).
New properties would be taken up for Management Contracts by Leelaventures on the lines of its hotels in Gurgaon and Kovalam.
“We are planning to open 10 new hotels that will be managed by us. Such projects are planned in Jaipur, Bangalore, Noida, Agra and Lake Ashtamudi, close to its Kovalam Beach Resort,” Nair said.
Management contract for its Jaipur hotel has been signed and parts of the contract have been signed for its Bangalore hotel. Its Chennai hotel is expected to be completed by September.
As part of its fund raising initiatives, Hotel Leelaventure has identified non-core real estate properties to be sold off. The Business Park constructed next to the Chennai Hotel with a total built-up area of 2.25 lakh sq. ft. will be sold immediately.
The hospitality firm is also planning to sell its 3.85 acres at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.
The company shelved initial plans of building a luxury hotel after significant new supply came up in that area.
With the lease of the land on which one of the city's top hotels, Leela, stands expiring in July 2012, a public interest litigation has been filed seeking a public auction of the 1,800-sqm plot. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar on Thursday heard the PIL by Resources of Aviation Redressal Association.
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