INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), a state government agency, Friday said it has raised Rs 2,150 crore through
its debut masala bond issue.
This is not just the first offshore capital market issuance from a state-level entity from India ever, but also
the largest dual currency issue by a sub-sovereign backed entity from entire emerging markets and Asia, KIIF said in a statement.
The
transaction was priced on March 26, 2019 and saw strong participation from a wide spectrum of investors which included asset managers,
insurance companies, pension funds, banks as well as private wealth managers, it said.
The masala bond market till date had seen issuance
only from large Indian corporates and public institutions like NHAI and NTPC which are all rated AAA in the domestic market.
"The successful
closing of this deal is significant from this point of view and opens up new avenues for KIIFB
The deal is also significant for the state as the international investors have shown faith in a credit backed by a sub-sovereign from the
emerging markets for the first time," it said.
"This landmark deal, the first by a sub-sovereign from the emerging markets, has shown the
acceptability among international investors, the controlled leverage model of infrastructure financing championed by this government through
KIIFB.
"This issue has also helped to showcase the unique strengths of Kerala in front of a wider global audience and help garner
international investments to the state," KIIFB CEO K M Abraham said.
KIIFB Deputy Managing Director and Kerala Principal Secretary (Finance)
Sanjeev Kaushik said, "This transaction has realised our objective of diversifying our sources of funding by accessing capital from
KIIFB strives to be at the forefront of creating a sustainable development model for infrastructure financing in the emerging markets and an
exemplar for best practices in corporate governance and fund management."
