Jones Day acted as international counsel to the underwriters in the 14.8-billion-rupee ($345 million) equity shares rights offering of Bajaj Hindusthan, India’s largest sugar manufacturer.

The transaction, undertaken to repay the company’s debt, was underwritten by SBI Capital Markets, IDBI Capital Services and PNB Investment Services.  It closed on Nov. 1.

With a total of 14 sugar plants, Bajaj Hindusthan is not only India’s largest sugar manufacturer, but also one of the country’s largest industrial alcohol producers. Additionally, it has forayed into the power business, and is setting up five new coal-based power plants in the state of Uttar Pradesh, with total power generation capacity of 450 MW at a cost of 23 billion rupees. It is also, through a consortium, setting up two mega thermal power projects with a capacity of 1,980 MW each.

The Jones Day team was led by Manoj Bhargava, who heads the firm’s Indian capital markets practice, while Khaitan & Co were the domestic counsel on the transaction. “In light of the volatility currently being seen in the capital markets, globally and regionally, this was an extremely challenging transaction,” said Bhargava. “We are very pleased to have advised on this transaction in these turbulent times.” ALB

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