HDFC Bank's dominance in the global market broke an 18-year record by raising $1.75 billion

RJ Kesari News Desk: HDFC Bank said it has raised $1.75 billion, or approximately ₹17,000 crore, through senior unsecured bonds. This is the bank's largest foreign fundraising since the 2008 global financial crisis. 

Indeed, many lenders are tapping the foreign bond market. The country's largest private sector lender said the issuance was conducted through its GIFT City branch and was issued in two tranches (dual-tranche). 

The first tranche consisted of three-year bonds worth $500 million, and the second tranche consisted of five-year bonds worth $1.25 billion.

Interest will be received every 6 months

The three-year bond carries a coupon of 5.159%, while the five-year bond carries a coupon of 5.401%, with interest payments every six months. Both tranches will be settled on August 26. 

The three-year bond will mature by August 26, 2029, while the five-year bond will mature by August 26, 2031. The price guidance for the three-year bond is T+88 basis points (bps) and for the five-year bond is T+100 bps. 

Recently, several private and public sector lenders have accessed the overseas debt market under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) concessional swap window for external commercial borrowing (ECB), which will run until the end of the year.

These banks have raised foreign funds

Recently, IDFC First Bank raised $500 million through overseas bonds, while Kotak Mahindra Bank also raised around $650 million in its first five-year bond issue.

ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) have also raised huge amounts through this route.

These bonds will be listed on the India INX Exchange and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Moody's has assigned it a Baa3 credit rating, while S&P Global has assigned the bonds a BBB rating.

The lender raised this amount through the 144A route, which means no security was offered against the bank's issue.