Indian IT firm Persistent Systems is set to raise up to 80 billion rupees ($842 million) through the sale of rupee-denominated bonds with multiple shorter-duration papers of up to five-year maturity, two merchant bankers said on Friday.
The company will sell bonds maturing in one year, two years, three years, four years and five years and is likely to go ahead with the issue later this month, the two bankers with direct knowledge of the matter added.
They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, while the company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.
The information technology company will use the proceeds to refinance a bridge loan it had taken earlier in the year to acquire Germany-based technology services company Nagarro, the bankers added.
Ratings agency Icra has assigned an AA-plus rating to Persistent Systems' bonds. The company has acquired a 94% stake in Nagarro and would look to buy out minority shareholders before delisting.
The total funding requirement to buy 100% of Nagarro will be around $1.25 billion. Persistent Systems had earlier proposed to fund the acquisition entirely through debt, but it recently announced plans to raise equity of up to $450 million and the rest through debt, Icra said in its ratings note.
The issue comes as another company, Sun Pharma, is also in talks to raise around 100 billion rupees through shorter-duration bonds, which it will use to repay part of the bridge loan it took to acquire New York-listed healthcare company Organon, Reuters reported last month.