Airtel raises $1 bn via 10-year bonds issue

Bharti Airtel on Thursday said that it has successfully priced an issuance of $1 billion 4.37 per cent Senior Notes due 2025 (10 years). The notes are expected to carry a final rating of investment grade from Moody’s, Standard & Poor and Fitch.

With 66 per cent bonds allocated to the US investors, this is the highest-ever allocation to US investors in any Indian deal, demonstrating the strong investor base Bharti has created for itself in developed markets allowing it to efficiently raise capital from world’s leading fixed income investors, the company said in a statement.

The USD notes have been priced at 210 basis points over 10 year USD Treasury with a fixed coupon of 4.37 per cent per annum to yield 4.46 per cent, it said.

“With bond issuances of close to $6 billion outstanding post this issue, Bharti now has a well-established credit curve across tenure buckets and currencies. These, along with the availability under our long dated ECB terms signed recently with Chinese banks (CDB and ICBC), significantly elongate the tenor of our financing as also helps larger cash flows at hand,” Harjeet Kohli, Group Treasurer, Bharti Airtel, said.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers along with DBS Bank Ltd as the Co-Manager for this offering.

Shares of Airtel were trading at ₹417 on the BSE at 2.36PM, down 1.01 per cent from the previous close.