Capital First hits a new high

Capital First has today shown an almost 5 times spike up in volumes and it has hit a new 52-week high at Rs.182.50. Though it has come off this high, it remains up over 13% at Rs.177 levels.

An NBFC, which  lends mostly to the SME sector and offers loans for gold, durables and two-wheelers, is up after the company announced that it has called an EGM on 28th March, for shareholders approval for issue and allotment of equity shares on preferential basis.

The company plans to raise around Rs.179 crore from an affiliate of US-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company. Capital First will allot 83.6 lakh shares to Warburg Pincus affiliate Cloverdell Investment for Rs 129 crore and 32.5 lakh shares to HDFC Standard Life for Rs.50 crore. The preferential issue will increase Warburg Pincus' holding in the company to 72% while HDFC Life will get 4% stake. In June 2012, Warburg had acquired the Future Group's 42.73% holding in Capital First.