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Reliance may drop $750 mln bond for loan
By siliconindia staff writer
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Friday, 27 February 2004, 20:30 IST
SINGAPORE/MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd may drop plans to raise $750 million in international bonds in favour of taking syndicated loans, industry sources said on Friday.
Reliance had considered a February launch for what would have been the countrys biggest ever non-sovereign overseas debt issue.
"Basically everything is done, they (the bonds) are ready to go but now the company does not like the market rates," a Hong Kong-based banking source told Reuters.
"What they are trying to do is they are trying to get some sort of syndicated loans, or something like that," he said.
A market source in India , who declined to be identified, said: "They were not getting the pricing that they were looking for."
A Reliance spokesman declined to comment.
In January, it reported net profit of Rs 1,374 crore for its third quarter to the end of December. Net sales were Rs 12500 crore.
CSFB and ABN AMRO were appointed to handle the bond, which had been delayed from late January to resolve some legal issues over tax.
The first source said Reliance had not made a final decision to cancel the bond but was certain to raise funds this year -- either through a loan or by issuing bonds.
"They need the money, so they are going to do a financing... they are negotiating very hard, very hard," he said.