RIL raises $750 million from overseas markets

BoAML, Barclays Bank, Citigroup Global Markets and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation acted as joint book runners and lead managers

Reliance Industries (RIL) said on Wednesday it had raised $750 million (Rs 4,624 crore) through issue of bonds to global investors abroad.

There were $750 million 4.875 per cent Senior Unsecured Notes due 2045, RIL said.

On January 22, the company had raised $1 billion by selling 10-year bonds at an interest rate of 4.125 per cent, which the firm claimed was the lowest in Asia and with almost no new-issue premium. Asit Bhatia, managing director, Global Corporate & Investment Banking, BofAML, said, “The deal attracted quality investors from Asia, Europe and US. The $2.3 billion of order book, enabled us to tighten pricing by 22.5 bp from the initial pricing guidance. This reiterates what we have been consistently saying, that bond markets are very receptive to Indian issuers and the low interest rate environment will enable quality issuers from India to tap long-dated paper in the international bond markets”.      

“ The RIL 30-year, $750mn deal was  the second lead managed by BAML in the last three weeks.  

RIL said this was the first ever single tranche and the lowest coupon ever achieved by an Asian private corporate issuer for a 30-year issuance.

“The Notes have been priced at 262.5 basis points over the 30-year US Treasury Note, at a price of 98.865 to yield 4.948 per cent. The funds will be used for its ongoing capital expenditure,” the statement added. The issue has been rated Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service. “We are delighted to continue to lead the way for Asian corporates to access long-term financing at attractive rates. Like our previous issuances, we were able to efficiently execute through an intra-day window, despite volatility in asset markets,” said V Srikanth, joint chief financial officer, RIL.

Forty-seven per cent of the Notes were distributed in Asia, 45 per cent in the US and eight per cent in Europe. They were distributed to high quality fixed income accounts - 52 per cent to fund managers, 31 per cent to insurance companies, eight per cent to pension funds, six per cent to central banks and sovereign wealth funds, two per cent to banks and one per cent to private banks.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank, Citigroup Global Markets and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation acted as joint book runners and lead managers.

In 2014, the company had raised about $3.3 billion in forex debt.