JULY 20248TOP STORIESSAMVARDHANA MOTHERSON SUCCESSFULLY RAISES $350M VIA BONDSSECI PROPOSES 500 MW SOLAR THERMAL CAPACITY TENDER BY FY25Samvardhana Motherson International, an auto parts manufacturer, successfully raised $350 million by issuing five-year bonds to overseas investors. The bonds, sold through its subsidiary SMRC Automotive Holdings Netherlands, were priced late on Wednesday at 140 basis points above the five-year US Treasury rate, which is currently around 4.30%, yielding an overall rate of 5.72% after costs.The funds from this bond issue will be used to refinance existing debt maturing later this month, according to sources familiar with the matter. Samvardhana Motherson provided an unconditional and irrevocable corporate guarantee for the bonds, as disclosed in a recent stock market announcement.The final pricing of the bonds was tighter than the initial price guidance of 175 basis points above the five-year US Treasury, largely due to the total order book reaching $2.20 billion. This strong demand allowed the company to secure more favorable terms.JP Morgan, MUFG, DBS Bank, and BNP Paribas were among the banks involved in the issuance. The raised funds will primarily refinance a 300 million euro bond maturing later this month.In June, Moody's upgraded the long-term ratings for both Samvardhana Motherson International and SMRC Automotive from Ba1 to Baa3 with a stable outlook, citing improved profitability and cash flows. Kaustubh Chaubal, a senior vice president at Moody's, highlighted that the upgrade to investment grade reflects the sustained strengthening in Samvardhana Motherson's financial metrics, improved scale, diversification, and profitability following the integration of several acquisitions. SECI, the government's nodal agency for renewable energy projects, is anticipated to issue a tender for 500 MW of solar thermal capacity, By FY25, according to Chairman and Managing Director R P Gupta. This will be the first time in Quite a while that such a tender would be drifted on this scale, Gupta said reporters uninvolved of the India Energy Storage Week 2024 2024, coordinated by India Energy Stockpiling Alliance (IESA) here. "The tender is expected to be out by the end of this financial year 2024-25. There have been (solar thermal) tenders but not of this scale," Gupta said in reply to a question on new solar thermal tenders.The activities under the 500-MW tender will have lates innovation where steam would be created through heat and it would assist in running turbines, he added. Moreover, the prices with willing be at standard with Round the Clock (RTC) arrangements, Gupta added without explaining further.The IESW 2024 is committed to propelling India's reception of energy storage, e-mobility, green hydrogen, and other clean advancements in arrangement with the nation's net zero objective. Global leaders from battery manufacturing, BESS (battery energy storage system) and EV (electric vehicles) section assembled at IESW to examine India's guide for cutting edge battery manufacturing, opportunities and bottlenecks.Rahul Walawalkar, President & MD, CES India & President, IESA, added that safety is a important area where "we need to deploy new measures and technologies".
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