Bharti Telecom to issue 3-year bonds

India’s Bharti Telecom plans to raise 18.50 billion rupees ($224.46 million) through a sale of bonds maturing in three years, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

The telecom operator, which holds a stake in Bharti Airtel, aims to raise 10.50 billion rupees through plain vanilla three-year notes at an annual coupon of 8.60%.

It aims to raise 8 billion rupees through three-year bonds, the coupon for which would be the six-month marginal cost of lending rate of Kotak Mahindra Bank and currently stands at 8.40%, the bankers said.

It has invited commitment bids for both the issues on Thursday, and the MCLR-linked bond issuance will have a call option at the end of one year.

The bonds are rated AA+ by CRISIL and the issue will close for subscription next week.

Earlier this month, the company raised an aggregate of 45 billion rupees through two-year and three-year papers at an annual coupon of 8.60% and 8.70%.

While, in November, the company had raised an aggregate of 70 billion rupees through bonds maturing in two years and three years. Reuters