MUMBAI, Aug 1: The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) on Friday launched its $ 150 million Yankee bond issue of 10-year maturity as part of its global medium-term note programme finalised in March.

The debt offering, led by JP Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter as co-managers, received an overwhelming response. The coupon, fixed through book-building at 7.55 per cent, was the lowest for an Indian corporate in the US.

In all, 70 per cent was placed in the US, 20 per cent in Europe and 10 per cent in Asia across a wide range of investors. With the issue, ICICI has become the first Indian financial institution to access the US with a 144a yankee deal, expanding the investor base for Indian Yankees, a press release said.

The deal has been priced aggressively compared with the other financial institutions in Asia like Bank Negara Indonesia, which was trading at 170 basis points over the 10-year US treasury.

It has also come finer than other Indian deals like Telco, which has a current bid spread of 169 basis points over the 10-year treasury and Reliance at 173 basis points before option adjustment. The issue was the second take-down under ICICI's global medium-term note programme, the first being an issue of subordinated floating rate notes of $100 million in March 1997.

The lead manager, JP morgan worked with ICICI to launch the bond just two weeks after the mandate.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.