(LiveMint)
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the telecom arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, is looking to refinance as much as $1.5 billion of debt from overseas lenders, according to two people directly aware of the company’s plans.
“There are two bank facilities of $1 billion and $500 million each with tenors of 5.5 and 7 years, respectively,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity. “The company is in the midst of investor road shows which are being held in Tokyo, Taiwan and Singapore currently.”
This is part of the overall refinancing of $2.5 billion of Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) older bank facilities, the second person said, also requesting anonymity. “The original loan of $1.5 billion was parts of debt raised to buy broadband spectrum. The debt was to mature in 2015 but was rolled over,” the person said.
Both facilities, guaranteed by RIL, were underwritten by a consortium of 15 foreign banks. While the pricing of the loans this time was not immediately known, RIL has previously raised loans at around 160 basis points above Libor (London interbank offered rate), an international benchmark rate. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
