Jio Financial Services in talks for maiden bond issue, say bankers

Jio Financial, which was carved out of Reliance Industries, is in the process of getting its credit rating and other necessary approval (Representative image)

India's Jio Financial Services is in early talks with merchant bankers for its maiden bond issue, four bankers told Reuters on Monday.

The company may look to raise Rs 5,000 crore ($600.6 million) to Rs 10,000 crore through the issue and may tap the market in the last quarter of this financial year, the bankers added.

Jio Financial, which was carved out of Reliance Industries, is in the process of getting its credit rating and other necessary approvals, they said.

The bankers declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media, while Jio Financial did not immediately reply to Reuters' email for comment.

The company, which was listed in August, plans to establish itself as a full-service financial services firm in a rapidly growing market, including auto, home loans and other products, competing with the likes of Bajaj Finance.

"Jio Financial has got a strong promoter parentage and it is expected that the company will automatically get AAA credit rating," said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, founder and managing partner at Rockfort Fincap.

"While the pricing will depend on factors like tenor and balance sheet size of the company at the time of issue, being an NBFC, it will be 10-20 basis points higher than RIL."

Earlier this month, Reliance Industries raised 200 billion rupees via 10-year bonds in the largest issue by a non-financial Indian firm, paying 40 basis points more than the government's borrowing cost.

Ahead of the bond issue, bankers have recommended that Jio Financial issue shorter-term commercial papers and put bank borrowing lines in places to establish pricing, said two bankers.

It has also been recommended to issue bonds not longer than five-year maturity, according to four bankers.

"Since the company is new, the documentation and compliance will take time, and we could see them coming in before end of March" a merchant banker with a private bank said.

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