Resurgent Bonds Issue To Close On August 24

State Bank of India has decided to extend the closing date for Resurgent India Bonds to August 24, against the earlier schedule of August 17. SBI officials said the closing date was extended primarily due to requests from small non-resident investors for time to invest.

"The response for the RIB has been positive with collection figure estimated to have touched $ 2 billion by the end of the day," said sources from SBI. "The RIB collection was $1.5 billion as on August 15 and is expected to touch $3 billion", added sources.

According to senior SBI officials, the issue has received maximum response for dollar-denominated bonds followed by the sterling and deutsche mark-denominated bonds.

 

According to an SBI statement yesterday, "Available information indicates that an overwhelmingly large number of small applicants still want to apply for the bonds. Because of the persistent demands from such investors worldwide, keeping in view the fact that there were a number of intervening holidays in markets such as Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and US, the bank has decided to close the issue at the end of business hours on August 24."

Sources said the issue was extended as small investors had their money blocked and needed a few days to invest in the RIB.

However, market circles feel that SBI might have been forced to keep the issue open beyond the earliest closing date of August 17 due to the issue receiving a lukewarm response.