ICICI Bank's UK subsidiary raising $75mn

ICICI Bank UK Ltd, the London-based subsidiary of ICICI Bank, is raising $75 million through a three-year syndicated loan.

The funds raised will be utilised to for expansion of business operations in the United Kingdom.

ICICI Bank has provided a letter of comfort for the loan.

The loan syndication is expected to close in the first half of January 2005. Details like interest rate to be offered are still being decided, an ICICI spokesman said.

ICICI Bank's Singapore branch had earlier this year raised $150 million three-year loan.

ICICI Bank has also filed a shelf prospectus with the Luxembourg Exchange for issue of $1 billion in medium term notes (MTN) for its overseas branch expansion.

It raised $300 million under the MTN programme in August with a five-year bond offering.

ICICI Bank UK launched its operations in November 2003 with its first branch at Knightsbridge, London. ICICI has a tie-up with Lloyds TSB whereby its customers can open and access their current and savings accounts through the 2,200 branches of the UK bank.

It is targeting three business areas: small and medium corporates in the UK, trade finance in support of trade flow between the UK and India and corporate finance and syndication.