By Dharamraj Dhutia
MUMBAI (Reuters) -India’s Torrent Pharmaceuticals will proceed with its plan to sell bonds worth as much as 140 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) after the country’s competition regulator approved its acquisition of JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals earlier this week, two banking sources said on Thursday.
The bond issue will be the largest rated issue of funds so far this financial year and extends a trend of acquisitions being funded via domestic bond issues.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India said it will allow Indian banks to fund acquisitions.
Torrent Pharma is likely to fast-track its bond issue now that approvals are in place and the company will look to close the sale before mid-December, one of the bankers said.
Torrent Pharma did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment, while the bankers requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media.
The pharma giant is expected to sell multiple tenor bonds of maturity between 15 months to 42 months, and the company is expected to tap the market before the end of 2025.
Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank are among the foreign banks that will act as arrangers for the bond sale. None of the lenders replied to a Reuters email seeking comment.
The bond issue has been rated AA+ by India Ratings and Research, which expects the merger to improve Torrent Pharma’s ranking in the Indian pharmaceutical market from the seventh to the fifth largest in terms of market share.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
