Indian state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has reportedly raised Rs15bn (US$242.7m) in a 10-year bond offering, with proceeds to be used to repay debt.
The mobile operator sold a Rs10bn bond to institutional investors which was oversubscribed…
Indian state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has reportedly raised Rs15bn (US$242.7m) in a 10-year bond offering, with proceeds to be used to repay debt.
The mobile operator sold a Rs10bn bond to institutional investors which was oversubscribed by Rs5bn, and it intends to use a greenshoe option to retain the full amount, the Business Standard cited an MTNL source as saying.
According to an Economic Times report citing a senior source at the company, the offering remained open for subscription today and the company hopes to raise Rs37bn (US$598.8m) in total.
The offering priced at 8.24% half-yearly, three basis points higher than the average 10-year benchmark bond yield, the report stated.
MTNL shares closed at Rs29.25 (US$0.47) today, up 4.28% on yesterday’s closing price.
MTNL, which reported net debt of Rs147.6bn (US$2.4bn) at the end of June this year, was not immediately available for comment.
The Indian government has been considering ways to revive MTNL and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), another state-owned mobile operator, as both are struggling to survive in the country’s crowded mobile market.
In early September, local media reported that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had set a deadline of 31 July 2015 to conclude a merger between the two telcos.
The DoT reportedly also set deadlines to complete organisational restructuring plans at both companies ahead of the merger, including a cut-off date of 31 December 2014 to spin off BSNL’s mobile towers into a separate, wholly-owned unit and to monetise some of its property assets.
Reports later in September said government officials had met to discuss closing down some loss-making state-owned companies, which could include MTNL and BSNL.
