Bharti Airtel is planning to solidify its balance sheet with a Rs 5000 crore fundraise in the near future through rupee-denominated bonds from the local market. This will help the telco during the 5G spectrum auctions, which are not very far from now. Further, it will enable the telco in refinancing the high-cost debt right away, reports ET Telecom.
The publication’s report highlights that this Rs 5000 crore will be a part of the Rs 7500 crore raise approved by the company’s board. However, this is not the only way that the telco is considering raising money.
Airtel Might Go for Offshore Bond Issue or a Rupee Loan from Banks
There are two more ways Airtel is considering it can go about the money-raising exercise. The telco could either go for an offshore bond issue or/and a rupee loan from the local banks in the market.
A senior executive involved in local bond sales told ET Telecom that the rupee linked corporate bonds with multiple maturities may come with multiple tenors in the range of three to ten years. A ten-year paper may come with an 8-8.25% interest rate.
If the telco decides to go with the option of the offshore bond issue, then it is most likely going to take place in the April-June quarter only. This is because of the geopolitical uncertainties in the market right now, which have sent the global benchmark gauges higher, making such borrowings costlier.
If the telco is successful in raising this money, it will help a lot with the coming 5G spectrum auctions. It is worth noting that Bharti Airtel had also got a commitment from Google in January for a $1 billion overall investment, out of which $700 million will go towards 1.28% of the telco and the remaining $300 million for forming multi-year deals to work on different things. The telco is yet to announce anything formally about this.
