The HDFC Bank has raised $300 million through its first-ever sustainable finance bond.
This is part of an overall raise of $ 750 million through Regulation S Bonds. While $300 million has been raised for a tenure of three years with a 95 basis points spread over the US Treasury, another $450 million has been raised for a tenure of 5 years, with a spread of 108 basis points over the US Treasury.
These sustainable finance bonds are the tightest credit spreads achieved by an Indian issuer for a three-year sustainable bond and five-year senior unsecured bond for a similar size of USD Reg S issuance, the bank said in a press release.
The proceeds of the sustainable finance bond will be utilized for funding green and social loans through sustainable finance. The rest of the proceeds will go towards financing general banking activities.
”The funds raised through the sustainable finance bonds will be prioritized for lending towards electric vehicles, SMEs, and affordable housing. We are strongly committed to building a green and social portfolio even as we continue adhering to the Bank’s risk philosophy, ” said Mr Arup Rakshit, Group Head-Treasury, HDFC Bank.
The bonds will be listed on the India International Exchange (India INX) in GIFT IFSC. The paper was rated Baa3 (stable) by Moody’s and BBB- (stable) by S&P. The bank had mandated Barclays, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan, MUFG, and Standard Chartered Bank as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Lead Managers, it said in the media release.
