South Asia

Private equity firm Blackstone is raising $1.1bn to support its purchase of a stake in Indian IT company Mphasis. The deal is set to be the largest leveraged buyout loan in the country — and comes with a group of 13 bookrunners at the top. Pan Yue reports.

Sri Lanka's dollar bonds bounced back at the end of last week, following news that the country's central bank is ready to repay debt set to mature this month.

Indian unicorn Zomato, a food delivery service, has set the final terms for its up to Rp98.9bn ($1.32bn) IPO.

Indian state-owned companies have returned in force to the loan market, raising funds for their planned capital expenditure as Covid-19 cases slow in the country. But the aggressive pricing offered by local banks means foreign lenders may end up being squeezed out. Pan Yue reports.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan returned to the bond market on Wednesday, raising $1bn in a triple part tap of its existing dollar bonds. Market participants say they are ‘impressed’ with the way reforms are headed in the South Asian country amid its International Monetary Fund programme.

A recent lull in dollar bond supply from Indian corporations meant investors rushed to buy REC’s $400m deal on Tuesday, with the electricity company leveraging the demand to price inside of fair value.

Indian company Tata Steel has returned to the loan market. It is in talks with banks for a £200m ($276m) financing to support its UK business.

India’s Ministry of Steel has kicked off a two-day sale of its shares in National Mineral Development Corp, eyeing at least Rp19.3bn ($260m) in proceeds.

ONGC Videsh, the overseas subsidiary of Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has launched a $500m loan into general syndication. It is targeting a broad group of lenders for the fundraising, owing to lending caps imposed on banks.

Indian Oil Corp has mandated three banks for its $500m loan return, after inviting firms to bid for the transaction last month.

Indian Oil Corp is planning a return to the syndicated loan market after almost three years, sending out a request for proposals for a new borrowing.

Indian software services provider Coforge, previously known as NIIT Technologies, is seeking a loan to fund a dividend recapitalisation, joining a growing list of companies raising debt to pay a special dividend to shareholders.