Greenko Group collects $500 mn via green bonds

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based Greenko Group has raised $500 million by selling green bonds to overseas investors, marking India’s first high-yield issuance of its kind.

The clean energy firm, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and one of the shortlisted contenders to buy SunEdison’s Indian assets, plans to use the proceeds to refinance debt and meet transaction or operating expenses.

Repaying shareholder loans and meeting working capital requirements are the other stated objectives behind the fundraising, a dealer said. Rating companies including Fitch and S&P have rated the issue as B+, lower than the investment grade.

A few months ago Axis Bank raised $500 million through the same route but with a better rating. Amid growing investor interest for higher yields globally, these bonds have yielded 4.875 per cent, half a per cent lower than its initial guidance as investors scrambled to have their share of the pie.

Bonds will mature in seven years from now. The bond sale received bids 8.4 times than its original issue size, bankers said. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Investec managed the issue.

“The overwhelming response for the first ever Indian highyield green bond confirms that a good management with a strong parentage will invite the best-inclass funds which are region agnostic,” said Amrish Baliga, head-structured origination, India Corporate Finance at Deutsche Bank.

Greenko Investment Company, backed by parent guarantor Greenko Energy Holdings, issued these securities, which will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Fund managers, private banks and providential funds from Asia, Europe, USA and West Asia subscribed to the bonds.