Airtel raises Rs. 2,100 crore from second bond sale in 2 months

In terms of geographic distribution, the notes were distributed 38 per cent in Britain, 18 per cent in Germany and Austria, 35 per cent collectively in France, Switzerland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands and other European countries and 9 per cent in Asia.

Bharti Airtel's move to raise fresh funds comes about three weeks before start of spectrum auction in which the company may have to bid for frequencies in 900 Mhz band that it uses in Delhi and Kolkata for mobile services and where its licences are expiring in November this year.

In March, 2013, the company had raised $1.5 billion in overseas debt in two tranches. Bharti Airtel had net debt of Rs. 60,877 crore in September, 2013.

Shares in Bharti Airtel, on Monday, ended at Rs. 331.25 apiece on the BSE, up 0.2 per cent from the previous close.

"Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited has approached investors for the re-opening of EUR 750 mn 4 per cent Senior Notes Due 10 December 2018," the telecom major said.

According to i-bankers, the domestic companies are entering the European debt market as this market provides an efficient and consistent source of liquidity. The market has significant depth and comparable in size to the dollar market. In the just concluded year, domestic corporates and financial institutions had raised a record $16 billion in international debt, up 60 per cent from 2012.

The overseas fund raising had ebbed following the May 24 tapering talk by the US Fed, which spiked interest rates in Western markets. Since then there were only a few issues including HDFC Bank's $500 million in October and ICICI Bank's $750 million in November.

The current issue has a 'BBB-' rating from Fitch.