SBI successfully prices its first international USD denominated public bond (Formosa Bond) for $300M

14 Jan 2022 , 04:19 PM

India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI), acting through its London branch raised USD 300 million of “Regulation S” Formosa bonds at a coupon rate of 2.49 per cent. The bond is benchmarked against the 5yr US Treasury and priced at a spread of 100 bps over the benchmark). The bonds will be listed on Taipei Exchange (TPEx), Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”) and India International Exchange IFSC Limited (“India INX”).

The transaction received an overwhelming response and saw strong interest from investors across geographies. A wide range of investors such as supranational agencies, assets managers, private bankers and financial institutions have invested in the issue. On the back of strong demand, the price guidance was revised from T+130 bps area to T+100 bps.

Commenting on the transaction, Shri Ashwini Kumar Tewari (Managing Director) said “The successful Formosa issuance demonstrates the strong investor base SBI has created for itself in offshore capital markets allowing it to venture in new markets and efficiently raise funds from the World’s leading fixed income investors. This is an indication of confidence global investors have in the Indian banking sector generally, and in SBI in particular and is also testament to the exceptional access that SBI enjoys in the global capital markets”.

Citigroup, HSBC, Credit Agricole and Standard Chartered Bank were the Joint Bookrunners for this offering and KGI Securities Taipei, SinoPac Securities Corporation Taipai, Taishin International Bank Co., Ltd. Taipei have acted as co-managers for the issue.