VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is likely to finalise the lead manager for raising `500 crore through public issue of Amaravati Bonds in the next three to four weeks. (A lead manager is responsible for arranging the bond issue and managing the entire process, advising the issuer on the structure and timing of the issue).
According to officials, the bonds are expected to debut in the market in December or early January.
The authority has already issued the Request For Quotation (RFQ) for appointment of the lead manager for finalising the modalities of the proposed public issue of the bonds, which will have a tenure expected to vary from three years to 15 years.
While the authority initially planned to open the bids last week, it has decided to extend the date of filing RFQs till October 25.“On the request of a few merchant bankers, we have extended the deadline. We expect to have the lead manager on board by the end of this month. We are planning to issue the bonds in the next two to three months,” a senior official said. The face value of the bonds, coupon rate and other details will also be finalised once the lead manager is appointed.
The authority is also mulling to raise monies by issuing special bonds for non-resident Telugus. However, the officials clarified it will be materialised only next year. “CM Naidu wants NRIs to take part in building the capital. So a proposal to issue special bonds for the NRIs has been made. But we will work on it only after seeing the response to the public issue,” another official said.
It maybe recalled that the authority in August had raised `2,000 crore by issuing Amaravati Bonds to institutional investors. AK Capital had acted as the arranger and charged a fee of 0.85 per cent of the issue size.