Key Takeaways
- HDFC Bank raises $300 million through its Sustainable Finance Bond Issue, prioritizing lending for electric vehicles, SMEs, and affordable housing.
- The proceeds of the sustainable finance bond will be used to fund green and social loans, promoting a green and social portfolio growth.
- The bonds have been rated Baa3 (stable) by Moody’s and BBB- (stable) by S&P, and will be listed on India International Exchange (India INX) in GIFT IFSC.
Kolkata: HDFC Bank Limited has announced that it has raised $ 300 million through its first ever sustainable finance bond issue.
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 US Treasury, another $ 450 million has been raised for a tenure of 5 years, with a spread of 108 basis points over US Treasury. These 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, according to a media statement on Wednesday.
The bank will use the funds raised through the sustainable finance bonds to prioritize lending for electric vehicles, SMEs, and affordable housing. The rest of the proceeds will be used for general banking activities.
‘The funds raised through the sustainable finance bonds will be prioritised for lending towards electric vehicles, SMEs and affordable housing. We are strongly committed towards building a green and social portfolio even as we continue adhering to the Bank’s risk philosophy, ” said Arup Rakshit, Group Head-Treasury, HDFC Bank.
The bonds will be listed on 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.
