BPCL raises $500-mn in international debt market debut

State-owned Bharat Petroleum has raised $500 million through a 10-year bond issue, the refiner's first attempt at raising international debt.

According to a company statement, the issue was oversubscribed by nearly 15 times, with an order book totalling $7.5 billion from 325 high-quality fixed-income investors. This comes as the highest oversubscription for any dollar-denominated bond out of the country.

The papers would come with a fixed interest of 4.6 per annum, with semi- annual interest payment, the company said in a statement. The transaction was priced at a spread of 2.9 per cent per annum over the 10-year US Gilts, the lowest spread against US Treasury among all 10-year bond issuances out of India in 2012.

According to BPCL chairman, RK Singh, the successful pricing of BPCL's debut transaction was a remarkable testament of India's strong macro-economic fundamentals and BPCL's credit strengths.

Distribution wise, the notes were distributed 73 per cent to Asia and the rest 27 per cent to Europe.

By type of investor, the notes were distributed 62 per cent to fund managers, 14 per cent to private banks, 10 per cent to banks, and 12 per cent to insurance companies and corporate houses.