reliance: Reliance $4-bn forex bonds a landmark transaction achieving many firsts: Asit Bhatia

Reliance Dollar 4-bn forex bonds a landmark transaction achieving many firsts: Asit Bhatia

07 Jan , 2022 By : monika singh

“Reliance has transformed itself over the last four or five years and almost 50% of its EBITDA comes from the new-age sectors like telecom and retail. This is a transformational story which had to be told to the investors and was exceedingly well received by them,” says Asit Bhatia, MD, Bank of America
How do you see the

NSE 0.94 % $4-billion forex bond issue? We have not seen such a large transaction before. It is 25% of the entire such transaction last year! Can you explain the significance of this?

Last year, India Inc probably raised $20-22 odd billion in the US dollar bond market. And in the first week of January 2022, we have a $4 billion
jumbo issuance coming out of India’s largest private sector company. Think of all that has been achieved in this transaction. I am referring to two or three landmarks over here. It is obviously the largest ever transaction in a single day issuance by any corporate out of India. It has the lowest coupon ever for a 30-year bond. It is the first ever 40-year transaction that is being done out of India ever.
So there are several landmarks that were achieved as a result of this transaction. The order books on this transaction were between $11.5 and $12 billion. Global funds participated from Asia, Europe and the US. In every way, it really is a landmark transaction and opens the doors for other Indian corporates to follow suit during 2022.
How were your and other bankers’ interactions with the clients? How compelling does the Reliance story look now because every decade Reliance just metamorphosizes into a new company!
We have been involved with Reliance on several bond issuances over the last several years. It was always looked upon as an O2C, an oil to chemical refining petrochemical story. But Reliance has transformed itself over the last four or five years and almost 50% of its EBITDA comes from the new-age sectors like telecom and retail. This is a transformational story which had to be told to the investors and was exceedingly well received by them.

It also tells in a way the direction that the global interest rate is going. Tell us about the balance sheet management style of Reliance Industries. You have seen them for such a long time.
Reliance has committed to be a net debt zero company by March 21 of last year and they actually achieved it well before that in June 2020. Now they are very committed to maintaining their ratings profiles.