Bank of Baroda to raise $500M via bond sale
What's the story
Bank of Baroda, India's second-largest public sector lender, is gearing up to raise around $500 million through a US dollar bond issue. The move is part of its $4 billion medium-term note program. The bank has invited bids for joint lead managers for the proposed issuance, marking the start of its process to tap overseas investors through a stand-alone Reg-S bond issue.
Fund allocation
Proceeds from bond sale to fund corporate purposes
The proceeds from the bond sale will likely be used for general corporate purposes. This includes funding overseas operations and refinancing existing liabilities, in line with the bank's broader foreign currency funding strategy. The final terms of the bonds such as tenure, coupon rate, and pricing will be decided closer to launch date.
Program revision
Bank of Baroda's medium-term note program update
Bank of Baroda is updating its medium-term note program based on its December 2025 financials, a prerequisite for proceeding with the offshore bond sale. The $4 billion program gives the bank flexibility to raise funds periodically from global markets. As part of this mandate, joint lead managers will work with international and domestic legal counsels and ratings companies, conduct roadshows and investor meetings.
Submission timeline
Deadline for submissions and market conditions
The bank has set February 16 as the deadline for technical and financial bids. Technical proposals will be opened on February 17 while financial bids will be opened on February 18. Indian lenders are increasingly looking at offshore bond markets to diversify their funding sources, especially amid the tightening domestic liquidity conditions and rising credit demand.
Market preference
ECBs preferred over local market
In such cases, companies looking to borrow for three to five years prefer the ECB market over the local one. In H1 FY26, Indian firms raised $18.49 billion in ECBs, down from $25.42 billion in the same period last fiscal year. The slowdown was partly due to rupee weakening by over 6% against dollar on strong demand for US currency and foreign portfolio outflows.