Amarchand & Mangaldas, led by partner Niloufer Lam, has represented the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on the issuance of $500 million 4.625 percent notes due 2022, as well as IndianOil Corporation on the issuance of S$400 million 4.10 percent notes due 2022.

Bharat Petroleum’s 10-year bond issue marked the international debt market debut of the country's second-biggest refiner marketer. A company statement said the issue was oversubscribed by nearly 15 times, with an order book totaling $7.5 billion from 325 high-quality fixed-income investors. This is the highest oversubscription for any dollar-denominated bond out of the country.

HSBC and RBS, the joint lead managers for the issue, were advised on English law by Allen & Overy. HSBC additionally acted as trustee for the issue. 

Meanwhile, IndianOil priced the notes to yield 4.1 percent, better than the 5.625 percent the company had paid for a similar-dated US currency debt in 2011. It became the first Indian corporate to successfully price long-term bonds denominated in SGD. In this case as well, Allen & Overy advised the lead managers DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank on English law.

In recent times, Indian corporates have been tapping overseas debt markets after the government slashed a tax on foreign borrowing.

Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.

Other related stories are:

• Amarchand, A&O advise on $1.25 bln SBI offering
• New northern tax head for Amarchand as Chawla exits
• Amarchand opens in Chennai