Sterling and Wilson in limelight

After hitting the 5% LC and new lows continuously for nine straight sessions, Sterling and Wilson Solar today opened, as usual on the 5% LC at Rs.69.75 and then shot up 5% to hit the 5% UC at Rs.77.05.

The stock is up on unconfirmed news that the promoter of the company, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group is in preliminary discussions to borrow as much as $1 billion to repay maturing debt. The group plans to use part of its 18% stake in Tata Sons as collateral.

Shapoorji’s 18% stake in Tata Sons is valued at $14 billion. But those in the know say that this might be tough as these shares are privately held and illiquid and given the ongoing tussle between Cyrus Mistry and Ratan Tata, this might become an uphill task.

The group is currently sitting on a debt of over Rs.9000 crore and with the virus onslaught, the company is not able to sell the assets it had earmarked to raise money and bring down debt by at least Rs.4000 crore.