INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Reliance Industries raised Rs 7,000 crore by selling three-year bonds, amid signs of a revival in the debt market
With corporate bonds rallying, the company is likely to have gained 5-10 basis points in terms of cost compared with what it would have been
about three weeks ago.
Axis Bank, Barclays, Nomura and ICICI Bank bought these short-term papers, two people familiar with the matter told
Axis Bank is said to have subscribed to more than half the total at about Rs 4,000 crore.
Axis Bank and Barclays declined to comment
RIL and others didn’t respond to emails seeking comment until press time Friday.
The bonds have yielded 8.3% with three-year maturity
The fund mop-up is RIL's largest so far in 2019 via domestic bonds, dealers said
“Funds could be used both for refinancing and expansions as the corporate giant prepares for a new round of (capital) deployments
beginning next fiscal year,” said one of the people.
The yield differential between corporate bonds and benchmark government bond has
narrowed by 15-20 basis points in the past few weeks, suggesting that the impact of last month’s rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India has
started reflecting in borrowing costs.
In the October-December quarter, RIL became the first private firm in India to top the Rs
10,000-crore mark in quarterly net profit, on the back of an all-round performance by petrochemicals, retail and digital services.
