SBI sells $1-bn bonds, sets new benchmark in pricing at 3.25%

State Bank of India has set a new benchmark in overseas bond pricing at a low 3.25 per cent for its just-concluded USD 1-billion debt sale programme in the global markets which has received an oversubscription of 4.3 times, according to merchant bankers of the deal.
The coupon on the latest bond sale by SBI is 150 basis points lower than the one it is paying for its five-year unsecured bonds sold last July, when it raised USD 1.25 billion at 3.75 per cent.
This makes the current issuance cheapest/lowest in history not only for the bank but also for the domestic companies, the merchant bankers said.

"State Bank has successfully sold USD 1 billion senior unsecured bonds, denominated in US dollars and having a tenor of five years at a coupon of 3.25 per cent, to over 250 international investors," the nation's largest lender said in a statement here this evening.
"SBI is very pleased the transaction received such success. Strength of the order book and the fine pricing reflects the level of investor confidence in the SBI credit," Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said on the bond sale.
The bank said these bonds, maturing in April 2018, are the third US dollar bond issuance in the 144A/Reg S offering format after the USD 1.25 billion raised last July and USD 1 billion in July 2010, and is part of its USD 10 billion medium term note programme.

"The offering was priced at a spread of 255 bps over the 5-year US treasury bills, equivalent to a price of 99.904 per cent and yield of 3.271 per cent per annum. The bonds are denominated in US dollar, and will a bear fixed interest of 3.250 per cent per annum. The notes will mature on April 18, 2018," Hemant Contractor, SBI Managing Director and Group Executive (International Banking), said.
"We are extremely pleased with the strong interest shown by top global investors in the offering. In the backdrop of a volatile global environment, the transaction was well executed in the short time window available," he added.

BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, and SBI Capital Markets acted as joint lead managers to the issue.