Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries raises $4 billion in US dollar bonds

• Reliance Industries has raised $4 billion in US dollar bonds.
• It is the largest ever foreign currency bond issue from India.
• SIMPLY PUT: Here’s why Mukesh Ambani is borrowing money again

Mukesh Ambani had not so long ago set out with an aim to make Reliance Industries net debt-free, and even managed to achieve the goal eight months ahead of the March 2021 deadline. Now, India’s largest conglomerate is borrowing money again.

Reliance Industries on Thursday announced that it has raised $4 billion (approx. ₹30,000 crore) in US dollar bonds, making it the largest ever foreign currency bond issue for an Indian company.

Reliance’s bond issue is nearly two times that of ONGC Videsh, which had raised $2.2 billion in US dollar bonds in 2014. Reliance says it will use the bond proceeds to primarily refinance its existing borrowings.

The bonds were raised in three tranches – $1.5 billion for 10 years at 2.875%, $1.75 billion for 30 years at 3.625% and $750 million for 40 years at 3.750% coupon rate. The interest on these bonds will be paid semi-annually.

The global coordinators for the issue were Bank of America Securities, Citigroup and HSBC.

“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.,” said Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer, Reliance Industries in a statement.

The notes reportedly received orders from over 200 accounts across Asia, the United States and Europe.

Majority of the notes were issued to high quality fixed income accounts – “69% to fund managers, 24% to insurance companies, 5% to banks and 2% to public institutions,” the company said in a statement.

What is a bond sale?

Bond sale is one of the debt financing options used by companies, wherein the investors earn a certain amount of money for a specified period of time. In this case, Reliance Industries will pay interest to the holders of these bonds for tenors of 10, 30 and 40 years respectively, based on the bond held by the investor.

It is worth noting that bond sales do not involve the sale of shares, so the ownership of the company is not diluted.
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