Rajesh Exports redeems $150-million foreign bonds

Mumbai: Amidst rising concerns about a large number of domestic corporates meeting the deadline foreign currency repayment obligations, leading gold and diamond jewellery exporter Rajesh Exports today said it has successfully redeemed $150 million of its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

Investors opted for a conversion of 1349 bonds into equity shares, and the payment was done on February 22, the company said in a release, adding the last of the equity share from the converted bonds was issued in February 2011.

Investors opted for redemption of 151 bonds, for which an accredited value of $2.24 crore was to be paid to investors. The company has fully discharged its obligation towards the bond holders, by making a payment on time, it added.

Rajesh Exports, established in 1990, has grown to be the largest gold jewellery manufacturing company in the world, it claimed. The company has setup the world’s largest gold jewellery manufacturing facility at Whitefield, Bangalore, with a capacity to process 250 tonnes of gold into finest jewellery.

India Inc has an FCCB obligation of nearly $5 billion this calendar year, and many of the issuers are not in a position to pay back their investors on time.

PTI