SBI''s 325mn Swiss franc bond issue gets overwhelming response

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) In spite of the turbulent marketconditions, the State Bank of India today successfullyconcluded its debut five-year Swiss franc bond issue, raising325 million (around Rs 1,500 crore).

The bonds, largest-ever by an Indian entity, comeunder the SBI''s mid-term note (MTN) programme and carry acoupon of 3.375 per cent. The bonds, issued through its Londonbranch, are listed on the Six Swiss Exchange, Zurich.

The price of the bond, in the form of senior debtfixed rate bond with a maturity of five years, was fixed onFebruary 8, and February 22, 2011 is the settlement date,while the maturity date is February 22, 2016. The issue has aspread of over five-year Swiss franc with a mid-swap of 185basis points, a SBI release said here.

This is the third bond issue by SBI this fiscal underits MTN programme, following the USD 1-billion issue in Julyand the 750-million euro issue in November of 2010.

These bonds are payable annually in the form ofRegulation-S (Reg-S) global notes. Reg-S bonds are open to allinvestors barring those in the US. It can be noted that firmsnormally issue two types of bonds one is Reg-S and 144-A bondswhich are open to all investors, including institutionalinvestors in the US, but not American retail investors.

SBI Chairman Omprakash Bhatt had led an intensiveroadshow across Switzerland covering Zurich, Basel, Bern,Geneva and Lugano in the run-up to the programme.

The issue attracted over 100 investors, largely fromwealth managers and private investors and represents thelargest-ever Swiss franc bond issue by an Indian bank, helpingthe bank to upsize the issue from 250 million to 325 million.