Air India assets plans US$3.2b bond sale to refinance debt

Air India Assets Holding, a special purpose vehicle that holds part of the carrier’s debt and assets, is planning its first rupee-denominated bond sale to refinance some debt of the airline. Air India Assets is aiming to raise INR220b (US$3.2b) and has sought fee bids from bankers Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. Out of the total, the company plans to raise INR145b through notes that will have a sovereign guarantee while the nation’s govt will fully service the remaining. The SPV was set up by the govt last year, and about INR295b of Air India’s debt was transferred to it to ease the ailing carrier’s debt burden and to make it easier for prime minister Narendra Modi to sell a stake in it. The airline, with a total debt of $8.4b, lost INR76.35b in the year to end-March, according to provisional estimates. <br/>