Bank of India seeks first dollar syndicated loan worth $400 million in more than a decade: Report

Bank of India said it is marketing its first dollar syndicated loan since 2012 of as much as $400 million. That comes at a time when more Indian borrowers are tapping global credit markets. The lender is raising the loan — split into three- and five-year tranches — via its branch located in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, Rajesh V Upadhya, company secretary at Bank of India said in an email reply to a Bloomberg News query, confirming an earlier report.

Bank of India joins a slew of other local borrowers seeking to raise foreign currency debt this year. Reliance Industries Ltd. is looking to borrow as much as $3 billion, in what could be the largest loan from the country since 2023, while Shriram Finance Ltd. is planning to syndicate part of a $1.28 billion multi-currency social financing, the biggest ever offshore deal from an Indian shadow lender.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India is marketing a ¥30 billion ($191 million) syndicated facility, and also plans to raise as much as $1.25 billion in what could be the country’s biggest dollar loan from the banking sector this year. All this adds to the already busy deal pipeline from Asia Pacific, setting the stage for a likely rebound in loan volumes after three years of decline. 

Bank of India last tapped the offshore loan markets in 2012, when it raised a $200 million two-year facility, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. That deal paid an interest margin of 175 basis points over the then-prevailing London Interbank Offered Rate benchmark, the data show. 

This is in stark contrast to the lender’s latest fundraising. The loan pays a margin of 83 basis points over the risk-free Secured Overnight Financing Rate for the three-year piece and 96 basis points for the five-year portion, Upadhya said. The lender will hold investor roadshows in Singapore on Jan. 17 and Taiwan on Jan. 20, he added.

CTBC Bank Co. and Standard Chartered Plc are the arrangers of the facility, people familiar with the matter said, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. Proceeds of the loan, which carries a base size of $300 million, are for general corporate purposes, including lending activities, they added.

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