JSW Hydro raises US$ 707 million from international bond markets

New Delhi: JSW Energy on Tuesday announced that its hydropower generation arm 'JSW Hydro Energy Limited' has raised US$ 707 million from international bond markets through debut green bond. JSW Hydro Energy, which has the largest hydropower portfolio by capacity in the private sector in India, has successfully priced a US$ 707 million fixed-rate senior secured green bond for a 10-year tenor at 4.125 percent. The proceeds from the issuance will be used towards repayment of existing green project-related Rupee-denominated indebtedness, JSW said in a press release on Tuesday. 

The green bond framework for the company's debut bond transaction has been reviewed by Sustainalytics, who has issued a second party opinion. The company engaged with several investors on a global deal roadshow across Hong Kong, Singapore, London, New York and Los Angeles. Backed by extremely strong investor feedback, the transaction was launched with initial price guidance of 4.500 percent area and tightened by 37.5 bps to 4.125 percent as final pricing. The final order book was in excess of USD 2.6 bn with an oversubscription of > 3.7x. The transaction witnessed 64 percent participation from Asia, 14 percent from the US and 22 percent from EMEA with 82 percent investment from long haul funds, 17 percent from financial institutions (including Sovereign Wealth Funds), and 1 percent from private banks. There was strong demand from some of the largest marquee fixed income investors globally.

As JSW Energy embarks on a journey to transition to become predominantly a Renewable Energy player, a strong investor response globally for its maiden international bond offering has come as a shot in the arm.

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JSW Hydro's Chairman and Joint Managing Director and CEO of JSW Energy Limited Prashant Jain said, "We are overwhelmed by the strong response from international bond investors in our debut issuance. We are pleased that global investors have understood and appreciated our unique credit story."

"This fundraise will enable us to further strengthen and diversify our sources of funding and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with global investors as we continue to build and grow our renewable energy business. From a total installed capacity of about 4.6 GW today, where about 30 percent is from renewable sources, we currently have visibility on a pipeline of about 2.6 GW of renewable projects comprising of wind, solar and hydro which are likely to get commissioned over the next 24 – 30 months. On completion of these projects, the share of renewables in our portfolio will be over 55 percent," he added. 

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