SBI may raise $1 bn through bonds by Sept

State Bank of India (SBI) is understood to be raising $1 billion (about Rs 4,500 crore) from overseas markets through bonds, for which it has appointed six lead arrangers -- including HSBC and Citibank.

The money would be raised by the end of September as part of the Medium Term Note programme, sources said.

The bank has appointed six lead arrangers, including HSBC, RBS, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank and Deutsche, sources said.

The money raised will be used to finance the bank’s business expansion in overseas countries, including Europe and US, sources said.

Targeted at institutional investors, the paper by the country's largest lender is expected to generate a good response from US fund houses, pension funds and other institutional investors, sources said.

Besides this, the bank plans to raise Rs 200 crore from the domestic market through the issuance of bonds to retail investors in the first half of this fiscal.

Usually, bonds are offered to institutional investors because of the large ticket size.

At the same time, SBI is also looking at mopping up Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue.

The issue may come up by this fiscal-end as the bank is currently in talks with the government over the issue, SBI chairman O P Bhatt had said earlier this month.

"It is still in the conversation stage (with the government). That is why, if at all it comes up, it would be towards the end of this fiscal," Bhatt had said.

The government holds about 59 per cent stake in SBI.