By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra
MUMBAI (Reuters) -India’s Bharti Telecom, the holding company of Bharti Airtel, is looking to raise $1 billion through a bond sale, its second in two months, two sources aware of the matter said on Friday.
The company is set to issue 90 billion rupees ($1.01 billion) worth of bonds maturing in two years and in three years and is likely to pay a coupon of 7.25% and 7.35%, respectively, on these notes, close to secondary market levels for October’s issue, according to the sources.
The funds are being raised largely for refinancing upcoming debt maturities, the sources said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
The firm has bonds worth 72.50 billion rupees ($817.89 million) maturing in December, after 25 billion rupees of bonds matured on Friday. It also has securities worth 266.50 billion rupees that will mature between 2026 and 2034.
In October, Bharti Telecom raised 105 billion rupees through the sale of bonds maturing in two years and in three years and two months at an annual coupon of 7.35% and 7.45%, respectively.
The sources said, mutual funds are likely to be big buyers of these bonds, as in the previous issue, while some foreign banks have also shown interest.
At the indicative pricing, this would be the cheapest bond fundraising for Bharti Telecom in four years.
An upgrade of its bonds earlier this year to the highest rating of AAA by CRISIL Ratings has helped lower its borrowing cost.
($1 = 88.6425 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
