Navratna Central PSU Rural Electrification Corporation (REC Ltd) has opened up the USD markets for Indian issuers in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. With the global lockdown fears receding and liquidity coming back to the Asian markets, REC pulled the trigger and tapped the offshore debt markets on May 12, 2020 making it the first issuer from India since March 5, 2020.

The paper was strongly received by investors, with books rapidly crossing $ bn across Asia and Europe. US investors too came in strongly, with REC finally receiving subscription of more than 5 times the actual issue size, through 175 investors. The strong investor demand saw the issuance being upsized from the base size of 300m to 500m. The 3-year issuance was priced at a coupon of 4.75%.

The REC paper saw demand from high-quality long term investors and large global fund houses. Asia took the largest allocation at 68%, Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 19%, and US at 13%. In terms of investor type, Fund Managers were allocated 52%, Insurance/PF 23%, Banks 16% and Private Banks 9%. Given the high demand, the issuance priced at nil New Issue Premium (NIP), comparing favorably to other global bond issuers who have had to pay significantly more NIP in recent deals.

Ajeet Kumar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, REC Ltd said: “REC has effectively opened up the offshore debt market for other Indian credits to tap into. The strong reception to this deal demonstrates both resilience of the Indian economy among International investors and the high regard for REC’s credit quality.”