Airtel raises $1.25 billion through the issuance of dual-tranche US$ bond

Bharti Airtel has raised $1.25 billion through the issuance of its first ever dual-tranche US dollar bond offering spread across senior and perpetual issuance. Airtel has priced its 10.25-year old senior bonds at $750 million at a yield of US 10-year treasury plus 187.5 bps for an implied coupon of 3.25 per cent. Meanwhile, Airtel’s wholly owned subsidiary Network i2i Limited has raised $500 million in guaranteed subordinated perpetual NC 5.25-year bonds with a coupon of 3.975 per cent. According to market reports, the offering was significantly oversubscribed with strong demand from several marquee Asian, European and American funds. Among the companies that acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the fundraising were Barclays, BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, Citigroup, HSBC, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank. Meanwhile, DBS Bank Limited and SMBC Nikko acted as co-managers of the trade.