Indian Bank to raise $500 million in next 4 months

State-owned Indian Bank plans to raise up to $500 million from overseas markets in the next four months to fund business growth.

"We plan to raise $350-500 million from bonds in the next 3-4 months," Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director T M Bhasin said.

The fund raising would be part of the bank's $1 billion (about Rs 4,500 crore) Medium Term Note programme. The MTN programme was approved by the board of the bank recently.

The bank also plans to come out with a follow-on public offer (FPO) to raise about Rs 1,500 crore by September this year.

"We have got in-principle approval from the government. We are planning to come out with the public offer within the next six months," he said.

The fund raising activities would boost the Tier-I capital of the bank, which stood at 11.02% at the end of March 2011, he said.

The capital raised would help fund business growth for the next few years, he said.

Under the board resolution, the bank will issue 10% fresh shares in addition to its current equity base of around Rs 430 crore, he said.

The government holds 80% equity in the Chennai-headquartered bank.

Source: Business Standard