September 23, 2014
Press Release No. 1
IFC Debuts Maharaja Bonds,
Attracting Foreign Investment and Setting Triple-A Benchmark for India's
Domestic Capital Markets
Mumbai, India, September 23, 2014— IFC, a member of the World Bank
Group, today issued its first onshore rupee bond, setting an international
triple-A benchmark for the country's domestic capital markets. The IFC Maharaja
bonds raised Indian rupees 6 billion, or approximately $100 million, from
international and domestic institutional investors. The bonds will be listed on India’s National
Stock Exchange (NSE).
The
bonds offer an innovative structure to attract different types of investors to
India's capital markets. There are four different tranches with different
maturities under the same issuance: a five-year bullet bond of $25 million, a 10-year
bullet bond of $25 million, and two separately tradeable
redeemable principal parts (STRPPs) with maturities ranging from 13 to 20
years. IFC can increase the size of issuance according to its funding needs
under the STRPP structure. All proceeds of bonds issued under this structure
will be used for infrastructure investments in India.
The
listing of IFC Maharaja bonds shows NSE’s continued
commitment to working with global partners to bring high-quality issuers and
increase the depth and vibrancy of India’s domestic capital markets.
HSBC,
ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, and SBI Capital Markets were the lead
arrangers for the issuance.
“Deep, efficient capital markets are the foundations
of long-term growth because they create access to finance for the private sector,”
said IFC Vice President and Treasurer Jingdong Hua. “The innovative structure of IFC’s Maharaja bonds
enables us to efficiently connect savings from international and domestic
investors to investments in infrastructure, while setting a triple-A pricing
benchmark in the domestic capital markets that will pave the way for other high-credit
issuers.”
"We appreciate the support of the government of India and the regulatory
agencies for IFC's efforts to develop and deepen the offshore and onshore rupee
markets," he added.
“The IFC Maharaja Rupee bond is an important
issuance for the Indian fixed income markets. This was possible due to the
combined efforts and commitment of the Finance Ministry and the regulators, Securities
and Exchange Board of India and Reserve Bank of India. We believe issuances
such as this will go a long way to create vibrant debt markets in the country,”
said NSE Managing Director & CEO Chitra Ramkrishna.
IFC issued a five year bullet bond with a fixed rate coupon of 8.0 percent and
a ten year bullet bond with coupon of 7.97 percent, both payable semi-annually.
Both the bonds priced approximately 50 basis points below the Indian Government
Bond ("IGB") yields of comparable maturities.
The STRPPs include
callable bonds and has been priced in a range of 20 to 30 basis points above
the relevant maturity IGB benchmark yields, with coupons of 8.88 percent (for
maturities of 13 to 18 years) and 9.00 percent (for maturities of 19 to 20
years).
The five and ten
year maturities have been subscribed to by Foreign Institutional Investors at
yields below the relevant IGB benchmarks
reflecting the value of IFC's international triple-A rating. This is the first time
a bond issuance in the Indian domestic markets has been priced below the IGB
benchmark yield curve.
The IFC Maharaja bonds are issued under a $2.5 billion program, to support
India’s domestic capital markets. The issuance follows IFC's successful
completion earlier this year of a global rupee bond program which raised $1
billion from investors globally.
In FY14, IFC invested $1.2 billion in India along its strategic priorities of
providing counter-cyclical support to infrastructure, promoting financial
inclusion, and enhancing access to quality and affordable healthcare to the
under-served. IFC invested close to $380 million to support infrastructure
development in the country during the last fiscal.
Press Release No. 2
News about Piramal Enterprises Limited &
Hindustan Construction Company Limited
The media had reports that "Piramal Ent Eyes HCC's Two Road Projects."
The Exchange, in order to verify the accuracy or
otherwise of the information reported in the media and to inform the market
place so that the interest of the investors is safeguarded, had written to the
companies.
A
copy of the clarification from Piramal Enterprises Limited & Hindustan
Construction Company Limited is available on the NSE website
(http://www.nseindia.com) under (Corporates > Corporate Information >
Announcements).
Press Release No. 3
Clarification
by Digjam Limited
Significant price movement has been observed in
Digjam Limited.
The Exchange, in order to ensure that investors have
latest relevant information about the company and to inform the market place so
that the interest of the investors is safeguarded, had written to the company.
Digjam Limited has vide its letter inter-alia
stated, "There is no event or information (including price sensitive
information) that has a bearing on the operation/ performance of the Company
which requires reporting."