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Business News/ Companies / ONGC Videsh seeks proposals for $1 billion, 5-year dollar loan
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ONGC Videsh seeks proposals for $1 billion, 5-year dollar loan

Firm is raising debt to help finance its $2.64 bn purchase of a 10% stake in a Mozambique gas field from Anadarko Petroleum

A file photo of the oil production platform at the Sakhalin-I field in Russia, partly owned by ONGC Videsh Ltd., Rosneft Oil Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Japan’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. Photo: BloombergPremium
A file photo of the oil production platform at the Sakhalin-I field in Russia, partly owned by ONGC Videsh Ltd., Rosneft Oil Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Japan’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. Photo: Bloomberg

Mumbai/New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), the overseas unit of the country’s largest oil explorer, is seeking a $1 billion loan, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The facility would have a tenor of five years and banks have been asked to respond with proposals, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.

OVL, a unit of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC), is raising debt to help finance its $2.64 billion purchase of a 10% stake in a Mozambique gas field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp., adding to its interest in the African nation’s energy asset.

In June, OVL and Oil India Ltd. bought a 10% stake in the same Mozambique gas field from Videocon Industries Ltd., and OVL last month hired banks including Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and BNP Paribas SA for a $1.5 billion, one-year term loan related to that deal.

“There are two different transactions," ONGC chairman Sudhir Vasudeva told reporters on 13 November. The $1.5 billion loan will fund the purchase of the stake from Videocon, while a new facility will be used for the Anadarko deal, he said.

Borrowing in dollars has become more attractive for companies in India after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the benchmark repurchase rate by 50 basis points, or half percentage point, to 7.75% since September.

International loans in India total $4.3 billion so far this quarter, versus $2.4 billion in the three months ended 30 September, the lowest in three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Videocon deal will close by the end of December, and the stake purchase from Anadarko by February, Vasudeva said.

ONGC Videsh also sought bids from banks last month for a benchmark-sized U.S. dollar-denominated bond, people familiar with that matter said. The notes will be guaranteed by ONGC, those people said.

ONGC has $1.45 billion of dollar-denominated bonds and loans outstanding out of total bonds and loans outstanding of $1.82 billion, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Bloomberg

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Published: 22 Nov 2013, 10:05 PM IST
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