Reliance Industries’ ₹13,000-crore 10-year bond issue attracted strong investor interest on Wednesday, with bids exceeding ₹15,000 crore against a base issue size of ₹12,000 crore, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
The issue included a green shoe option of ₹1,000 crore. A green shoe issue allows the underwriter to sell more shares than the original size.
NSE Electronic Bidding Platform (EBP) data showed the cut-off price at ₹100.02 and the weighted average price at ₹100.0662, both above the ₹100 face value, indicating investors were willing to pay a premium for the bonds.
A total of 80 qualified institutional buyers and one non-QIB participated in the bidding, while the ₹3,500-crore anchor portion was subscribed by 16 investors, sources said.
According to people familiar with the matter, State Bank of India emerged as the largest investor, picking up bonds worth nearly ₹5,000 crore, or about 40 per cent of the offering. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, SBI Pension Fund and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance were also among the major investors, a source said.
Broad-based demand
The bonds carry a coupon of 7.90 per cent and are rated AAA by Crisil and CareEdge. Market participants said the scarcity of long-tenor, high-quality corporate debt made the issue attractive to banks, insurers and pension funds.
“Eighty institutions bid and the anchor book was filled by 16 investors. This shows that the demand was broad-based,” a source said.
The transaction follows Reliance’s ₹12,000-crore five-year bond issue earlier this month at a 7.47 per cent coupon and marks another successful fundraise despite recent volatility in debt markets that has forced some issuers to defer offerings, sources added.