RIL Raises $4 Billion In India's Biggest Overseas Bond Deal

The company has raised the amount in three tranches -- $1.5 billion in 10 years, $1.75 billion in 30 years, and the rest $750 million in 40 years

The cash, raised by RIL, partly will be used to refinance $1.5 billion worth of debt due to mature in February, the company said. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Reliance Industries (RIL) has raised $4 billion in US dollar bonds, the largest debt capital market transaction by any corporate house in India.

The Mukesh Ambani-led firm has raised the amount in three tranches -- $1.5 billion in 10 years, $1.75 billion in 30 years, and the rest $750 million in 40 years.

According to the press statement, the notes were nearly three times oversubscribed with a peak order book aggregating $11.5 billion and were priced through RIL’s secondary curve.

The cash, raised by RIL, partly will be used to refinance $1.5 billion worth of debt due to mature in February, the company said.

The notes have been priced at 120 basis points, 160 basis points, and 170 basis points over the respective US Treasuries benchmark.

The notes are rated BBB+ by S&P and Baa2 by Moody’s.

The Indian conglomerate has joined a select group of issuers from Asia to have made jumbo bond issuances.

According to a report by Reuters, it was the largest ever foreign currency bond transaction in India, eclipsing the previous record set by ONGC Videsh in 2014 when it raised $2.2 billion in US dollar bonds.

“The support received from the marquee international capital market investors is reflective of the strength of our underlying businesses with established growth platforms across energy, consumer and technology as well as robustness of our balance sheet. This issue continues the tradition of Reliance being a sophisticated and innovative issuer across the capital structure,” RIL said in the statement.

Recently, global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has assigned RIL a Baa2 rating to the USD-denominated senior unsecured bonds, with stable outlook.