Singapore Exchange : SGX welcomes Indiabulls Housing Finance’s inaugural Masala bond

Singapore Exchange (SGX) today welcomed the inaugural rupee-denominated or Masala bond listing of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. (IBHFL), one of India's largest mortgage lenders.

IBHFL raised Rs. 13.3 billion from its first Masala bonds, which has a tenor of three years. The bond was priced at 8.567% and attracted close to 70% participation from investors in Asia. The company will invest the proceeds in its housing-finance business, particularly loans in the affordable-housing segment.

Tng Kwee Lian, Head of Debt Capital Markets at SGX, said, 'We are pleased to welcome Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.'s inaugural Masala bond and its debut in the international capital markets. Given the strong Asian investor participation in recent issuances, we are encouraged by the international appetite for the newly accessible Masala bond market. We look forward to enabling more investors to participate in India's growth story as we grow our role as a global Masala bond hub.'

Gagan Banga, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director at IBHFL, said, 'This successful issue by Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. is a testament to the confidence of foreign investors in our company and opens up a vast global pool of debt capital for us. It also further strengthens our funding profile by adding options that diversify our funding sources.'

More than 80% of listed offshore bonds by Indian issuers are listed on SGX today, raising about US$66 billion.