Axis Bank board okays Rs 5k crore capital raise on private placement

Private sector Axis Bank will raise Rs 5,000 crore by issuing bonds on a private placement basis.

"The board of directors of the bank today approved the allotment of 50,000 unsecured, redeemable non-convertible subordinated debentures, Basel III compliant tier II debentures aggregating to Rs 5,000 crore on a private placement basis," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

According to Basel III Capital Regulations, banks have to improve and strengthen their capital planning processes so as to be ready to mitigate any concerns that may arise if there are potential stresses on asset quality and consequential impact on performance and profitability of banks.

Banks in India have been implementing Basel III norms in phases since April 1, 2013 and are set to be fully compliant by March 2019, little behind globally accepted deadline of January 1, 2019.

Axis Bank said it will list the debentures in the wholesale debt market segment of BSE and NSE.

The bonds are rated 'Crisil AAA' by Crisil Ltd, 'Icra AAA hyb' by ICRA and 'IND AAA' by India Ratings (Ind-Ra).

Bonds with AAA rating reflect an exceptional degree of credit-worthiness on the basis that the issuer can easily meet its financial commitments.

Shares of Axis Bank closed flat at Rs 508.05 on BSE.