Kochi: Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), the company which owns and operates the country’s first airport built under a public-private partnership has collected Rs 478.21 crores through a rights issue plan offered by the company to mobilize resources for infrastructure development. This will be utilized for funding the already announced projects including the expansion of the International Terminal – T3.
Before the rights issue scheme has been announced, CIAL’s total share volume was 380 million shares owned by 22,000 investors from 25 countries. Being an unlisted company, CIAL can issue rights shares under Section 62(1) of the Companies Act for raising additional capital. The board of directors had earlier approved to issue of 9,56,43,687 equity shares at Rs 50 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 40 per share) aggregating to Rs 478,21,84,350 to the existing shareholders of the CIAL in the ratio 1:4 ( ie; one right share for the 4 existing shares).
The state government is the largest investor in CIAL. It owns a 32.42% stake. The government now invested Rs 178.09 crores in the rights share scheme and subscribed additional 3.56 crores shares. With this, the total share of the government has increased to 33.38%.
CIAL has received a total of Rs 564 crores from investors whereas Rs 478.21 crores of which could be collected as per norms. The remaining Rs. 86 crores were returned to the shareholders. 10.79% of the shares fell into the ‘unsubscribed’ category as only those holding a Demat account are eligible for the right shares. Such shares were re-allotted to the existing eligible shareholders in proportion to their holdings as per the terms already announced. For this, the State Government has provided an additional Rs 23 crores (included in the amount mentioned earlier).
Since the Companies act-2013 mandated the use of a Demat account from the prescribed time schedule, CIAL had requested the shareholders to dematerialize the shares way back in 2019 and many a time intimation about the process had been sent officially to their registered contact tools. The number and percentage of shares held by all the investors of CIAL including the State Government has increased proportionately after the right share was made available. All the right shares issued have been credited to the Demat account of the shareholders as on 5th May 2023.