Bharti Airtel set to raise up to 750 million Euro

The final guidance of the isssue has been set at 5-year mid swap plus 300 to 310 basis points

Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel is set to raise Euro 750 million by way of 5 -year Reg S bonds. The final pricing of the issue has been set at 5-year mid swap plus 300 basis points.

Moody's Investors Services rated the issue as “Baa3” while Fitch Ratings assigned a “BBB-”. Bharti is expected to use the entire proceeds to refinance its existing debt. The joint bookrunners to the issue are Standard Chartered, Barclays, BNP, Deutsch Bank, JPMorgan, and UBS.

In March this year, Bharti had raised $1.5 billion by issuing foreign currency notes in two trenches. In the first round, it had raised $1 billion by issuing Reg S bonds with a coupon rate of 5.125% maturing in 2023. And in the second round within a month, it had raised $500 million primarily to pay off high interest loans and fund capital expenditure requirements. The additional $500 million notes were issued at a premium.

The company had then said that the transaction is the first issuance out of India this year, making it largest single tranche issuance in 2013. Barclays, BNP, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and UBS were the joint book runners and lead managers for the issue.

In 2013, Indian companies such as Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, Tata Communications, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Exim Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Suzlon Energy have raised about $6 billion from overseas debt markets.