SBI raises $600 million through offshore bonds

Mumbai: The nation's largest-lender, State Bank of India (SBI), on Thursday raised $600 million from selling bonds to international investors at a coupon of 1.80 per cent. The issue, oversubscribed by 2.1 times, is part of the bank's $10-billion medium-term note programme, the ratings of which were withdrawn by the rating agency Moody's on Wednesday.

The 5.5-year issue denominated in US dollars was priced at 140 basis points (bps) over the US treasury, the bank said in a release, adding this is the lowest pricing for any Reg S/144a issue from the country with such a maturity. Earlier this week, the Exim Bank had sold $1 billion at a coupon of 2.25 per cent, the lowest for any such issue. With this issue, two domestic financial institutions, Exim Bank and SBI, have opened the new year on a high raising $1.6 billion in a week.

The bonds issued through the SBI's London branch, will be listed on Singapore Exchange and India INX, the international bourse from BSE, the release said.

Regulation S bonds are sold by foreign issuers in the US and other overseas markets but cannot be subscribed by resident American investors. The bank said strong demand helped it tighten pricing by 35 bps from initial guidance of T+175 bps to T+140 bps, arriving at a coupon of 1.80 per cent per annum, which it said is the lowest coupon achieved by a domestic issuer for a 5.5-year issuance to date.

This is the first public USD bond sale by a domestic bank since the onset of the pandemic last year. The lender said the transaction was well received and saw strong interest from investors across geographies with a final order book in excess of $1.9 billion.