The country?s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank is leading a consortium of banks to raise $350 million in overseas loans through syndication to fund GMR Infrastructure?s Male International Airport project in Maldives.
According to Sidharth Rath, president, corporate banking, infrastructure business, Axis Bank, the bank entered into a contract for funding GMR Infrastructure?s Male International Airport project a fortnight back.
The size of the project is $500 million of which Axis Bank is funding $350 million through a consortium of four to five banks.
Though the interest rate on the loan is yet to be fixed, the bank will be offering at Libor plus 350-400 basis points, sources said.
Axis bank, which has four overseas offices, is now focusing on project financing.
Rath said, ?I don?t think Axis Bank will have a problem in funding long-term infrastructure projects. With the pace of time we are also growing our capacity. So, taking increased exposure in infrastructure space should not be a problem.?
The bank is also looking for similar consortium route to invest in overseas infrastructure space. GMR Infrastructure had won the Male International Airport contract in June, 2010. According to reports, the company offered almost $78 million upfront to bag the contract.
Recently, the bank announced the launch of the Axis Infra Index (AII), which is designed to convey a summary composite assessment of investor confidence in infrastructure segments in India. The Axis Infra Index is intended to facilitate interpretation of capital expenditure, financial, policy, regulatory, tax and developments that influence investor confidence.
Trends in the index tell the relative overall improvements in operating conditions and fundamentals of the segments. Meanwhile, Axis Bank said its wholly-owned branch in Dubai sold $500 million worth of senior unsecured notes due in 2016 in the 144a private placement market.
The offering, which enabled Axis Bank to diversify its investor base, was the company?s debut issuance under the 144A/RegS format.
The notes had an issue price of 99.599% of the their principal amount and yield of 4.834%. The notes are denominated in US dollars and bear fixed interest payments of 4.750% per year with interest payable semi-annually in arrears. The notes were distributed to a diverse investor base comprising asset management companies, banks, pension funds, etc, in the US, Europe and Asia.