SBI raises $600 mn via bonds, bids total $1.9 bn

State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday raised $600 million of ‘Regulation S’ bonds — via its London branch — at a coupon rate of 1.8%, it said in a statement.

The bond is priced at a spread of 140 basis points over the the 5-year U.S. Treasury rate and will be listed on SGX-ST and India INX. The issuance represented SBI’s return to the international public bond markets after a gap of close to two years.

“The transaction was well received and saw strong interest from investors across geographies with a final order book in excess of $1.9 billion. On the back of strong demand, the price guidance was revised from T+175 bps area to T+140 bps, with a peak order book of $2.1 billion resulting in final pricing at the tight end of the range i.e. T+140 bps,” the bank added.

“The successful issuance demonstrates the strong investor base SBI has created for itself in offshore capital markets allowing it to efficiently raise funds from the world’s leading fixed-income investors, even during periods of heightened volatility,” said C. Venkat Nageswar, Deputy MD, International Banking Group, SBI.