E-book platform for corp debt launched;LIC HFL raises Rs 435cr

Electronic bidding platforms for corporate debt took off today, with LIC Housing Finance raising Rs 435 crore from the NSE's platform.
The stock exchanges -- BSE and NSE -- launched their electronic book platforms for issuance of debt securities worth over Rs 500 crore on private placement basis.
The platform -- BSE-BOND and NSE-EBP (Electronic Debt Bidding Platform) -- will facilitate online bidding for private placement of debt securities.
BSE did not attract any issue today, while NSE recorded its first deal with LIC Housing Finance raising around Rs 435 crore through the newly launched platform.
The bidding window was open for 30 minutes, NSE said in a circular.

The issue was managed by seven arrangers -- Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, SBI Capital Markets, Trust Investment Advisors and ISEC PD.

This initiative will help in the development of the corporate bond market and is aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency in the price discovery in the debt private placement market.
It will be optional for the issues below Rs 500 crore, but the issuers will have to disclose coupon, yield, amount raised, number of investors and category of investors to the Electronic Book Provider or to the information repository for corporate debt market, in the format as specified by Sebi.

"The NSE-EBP platform is a milestone towards developing the private placements market for debt securities. We have received overwhelming response and more than expected number of bids. LIC Housing Finance opted for this despite the fact they were not mandatorily required," Mukesh Agarwal, Group head - MF and IPO at NSE said in a statement.