SBI mops up $750 million via 5-year bond issuance

The largest bank in India Central Bank of India It said it raised $750 million through a 5-year bond issue with a coupon rate of 4.875 percent.

The bank said in a statement that the bonds are measured against US Treasury bonds for a period of 5 years and are priced at a difference of 145 basis points above the benchmark index. The bank collected resources through its London branch.

The bonds were issued under SBI’s MTN (Medium Term Notes) program and will be listed on Singapore SGX and India INX, Gift City. The notes are expected to carry a final rating of BBB- and BBB- from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch respectively, according to the statement.

The issuance received a good response and saw strong interest from investors across geographies with a final order book of over $2.9 billion across 181 accounts.

“On the back of strong demand, booked demand peaked at US$5.4 billion, giving scope to revise guidance from T+185 to T+145 region, which is the biggest pressure for spreads among all Indian US dollar bond issues during the current year,” the bank said.

This was noted by Dinesh Khara, Chair of the SBI The successful issuance demonstrates the confidence of global investors in the Indian banking sector in general, and in SBI in particular, and also testifies to SBI’s unparalleled access to global capital markets.