Latham & Watkins Advises on India’s First Sustainable AT1 Notes Issuance
Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has successfully closed its US$600 million issuance of Sustainable Additional Tier 1 (AT1) notes in the overseas markets. This is a first-of-its-kind transaction and makes India only one of two jurisdictions in Asia with an ESG AT1 issuance. The transaction is also Axis Bank’s largest ever single-tranche USD bond issuance to date.
The bonds were sold to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A and outside the United States in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S. The issuance has been given a rating of B1 by Moody’s Rating Services.
Latham & Watkins advised the Lead Managers in the transaction, comprising Axis Bank Limited, Singapore Branch, BNP PARIBAS, BofA Securities, Citigroup, Crédit Agricole CIB, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mashreqbank psc, MUFG, Standard Chartered Bank and Société Générale.
The deal team was led by Singapore partner Rajiv Gupta. Additional advice on English law was provided by London partner Manoj Tulsiani with associate Clive Wong; on US law by Singapore partner Min Yee Ng; and on regulatory issues by New York partner Courtenay Myers Lima. Advice on tax matters was provided by London partner Sean Finn, and New York partners Gregory Hannibal and Elena Romanova with associate Ronald Moore.
About Axis Bank
Axis Bank is the third largest private sector bank in India. The Bank offers the entire spectrum of financial services to customer segments covering Large and Mid-Corporates, MSME, Agriculture and Retail Businesses.
About Latham’s India Practice
With over 20 years of experience advising on Indian debt and equity capital markets transactions, Latham has one of the largest and most active India practices among international law firms. The multi-award winning practice comprises more than 50 lawyers globally, and the team have advised on India-related matters with a combined value in excess of US$90 billion since 2018.