HDFC raises Rs 25,000 crore, India's largest, through private bond issue

New Delhi [India], February 16 : Housing Development Finance Corp raised its target of Rs 25,000 crore on Thursday, in what is the country's largest privately placed corporate bond issue, the HDFC said in a statement.
HDFC, which is soon to be merged with Hdfc Bank, sold 10-year bonds at a coupon of 7.97 per cent.
"Today, as soon as the bids opened, there was wide participation from several high-quality investors across insurance companies, pension funds, provident funds, banks and mutual funds," according to the statement.
The issue was oversubscribed and received 92 bids amounting to Rs 27,863 crore of which the company retained 55 investor bids totalling to Rs 25,000 crore, it said.
"Demand in the housing sector continues to be strong throughout the country and across all categories; affordable to premium housing. The penetration level of housing in India is one of the lowest in the world. India's mortgage to GDP ratio is about 11% compared to 20%+ in many other emerging markets and 60%+ in some of the advanced economies," said VS Rangan, Executive Director, HDFC Ltd.
"On a sustainable long-term basis, the demand for housing is expected to remain strong, and investor support in long-term financing aids allocation of resources towards on-lending to the sector," said Rangan.
The proceeds are reported to be utilised for financing/refinancing the corporation's housing finance business requirements.