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Private sector lender ICICI Bank raised $ 250 million on Thursday through Reg S bonds. Reg S bonds are offered to non-US residents and qualified institutional buyers under an exception to US securities laws enacted in 1990, and do not enjoy the same legal protection as other issues.
The bonds maturing in May 2019 were priced at five-year US Treasury plus 185 basis points. The bank had raised $ 750 million in November and those bonds are currently trading in the secondary market at five-year US Treasury plus 190 basis points. This means the recent issue was priced tighter than the bonds trading in the secondary market. According to issue arrangers, it was the tightest spread achieved by an Indian bank since 2007. The coupon rate of these bonds are 4.8 per cent.
The recent issue is also a part of the previous transaction taking the total to $ 1 billion. About 62 per cent of the $ 250 million was bought by fund managers and the remaining by banks, insurers and sovereign wealth managers.
The lead managers for the issue were HSBC and RBS. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. International ratings agencies Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s affirmed their ratings for the notes at “BBB-” and “Baa2”, respectively.
