MUMBAI: Nayara Energy, formerly known as Essar Oil and now a unit of Rosneft, plans to raise about $500 million in overseas bonds to expand its operations.
The company is said to have appointed JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank as key bankers for the sale, three people familiar with the matter told ET.Nayara is seeking to sell fiveyear bonds with investment bankers waiting for an opportune time to hit the market, said one of the persons cited above.
Some more investment bankers are in the process of being appointed.
Bonds may come up for subscription by October.
The company is claimed to have business links with Iran, which is facing US sanctions.This initially caused a bit of apprehension among some investment bankers, but now it looks clear as the company has allayed broader concerns on this subject, said another person.Both JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the matter, while an email sent to the company remained unanswered.
Earlier in August, the company raised 2,400 crore by selling bonds in the domestic market.
Axis Bank was the sole manager.ICICI Prudential and Reliance MFs were the two large investors in those threeyear papers, which offered 9.5per cent, ET reported on August8.
Last year, Rosneft acquired 49.13per cent equity stake and Kesani Enterprises took the same 49.13per cent equity stake in the company, along with the captive port and power assets from the Essar Group.
A few months ago, it went through a name change to emerge as Nayara Energy, operating Indias second-largest single-site refinery.