ICICI Bank prices $1 billion debt in largest dollar issue by Indian private lender

ICICI Bank priced a USD 1 billion dollar bond offering at a coupon of 5.46 percent, or 100 basis points over US Treasuries, sharply tighter than the initial guidance of 130 basis points. The issue drew about USD 3 billion in orders against a base size of USD 500 million, marking the largest dollar bond sale by an Indian private-sector lender and the second biggest by any local lender since SBI's USD 1.25 billion issue in 2013. The transaction was supported by the RBI's new swap facility that allows eligible external commercial borrowings to be hedged at a fixed rate of 1.5 percent per annum.