The State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to raise funds by issuing dollar-denominated bonds with a maturity period of 5 years, three merchant bankers said on Tuesday. A few days after S&P Global Ratings upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating in August for the first time in 18 years, S&P Global Ratings said.
SBI, the country’s largest lender by assets, is hoping to raise at least $500 million through the scheme and depending on the response, the amount could go up to $1 billion, according to a banker. The issue will be finalized in the next few days, the bankers said. SBI did not respond to a request for comment sent by the writers via email and the bankers requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
Lender SBI has provided an initial guidance of a spread of 105 basis points over US Treasury yields, but bankers say the actual cutoff could come below 100 basis points as the issue is likely to receive strong demand.
SBI had raised $500 million through a 5-year dollar bond due in November 2024 at a yield of 5.13% which was at a spread of 82 bps over Treasury yields with the same maturity, the lowest spread achieved by lender SBI, according to bankers.
