Axis Bank retains top slot in debt investment banking

Axis Bank retains top slot in debt investment banking MUMBAI: Axis Bank has left behind large foreign banks, known for their investment banking skills, as it has retained the top investment banking rank in the past 10 consecutive years. With its market share surging to 20.4%, the private sector lender has cut 327 deals worth 81,100 crore that companies raised by selling bonds in 2016, according to

Bloomberg debt market league table.

HDFC Bank, State Bank of India were other top two banks in the Bloomberg 2016 league table beating global biggies.

Both the institutions have collectively done deals, which are marginally higher than Axis Bank alone.

“With expanding corporate bond market, we can see more opportunities coming in this year,” said Shashikant Rathi, head of treasuries and markets, Axis Bank. “We bridge between borrowers and investors with our feet on the ground, which is the key to our success. We have also conducted some innovative deals last year, which helped both the parties meeting their respective requirement.”

“India bond market is gradually emerging as a potential source of long-term funding for domestic companies seeking long-term funds,” he said.

One of the innovative deals was the Oriental Nagpur Betul Highway deal.

The company, a subsidiary of Oriental Structural Engineers Private, has raised 2,786 crore through its maiden bond sales, offering 8.28% and 8.78% in two tranches. National Highway Authority of India has awarded them the project with 20 years of concession period.

Maturities range from six months to 13.5 years with fixed annuity repayments. Axis Bank was the sole arranger.

Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank ranked 13th, 15th , 18th and 23rd respectively, with all of them losing market share in the range of 1.6-4%.

All the top three arrangers including Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI have increased their market share by 3-5%.

Axis Bank clenched nearly 5% market over the year, the sharpest rise.

Last year, many companies tried to tap the debt capital market as they found it cheaper than bank loans. The authorities are, too, trying to deepen the debt market as they see it a source for long-term funding.

Among domestic arrangers Derivium Captial, Kotak Mahindra Bank, AK Capital, IDFC Bank are some of the entities that lost market share by about 0.75-1%. Barring AK Cap and IDFC Bank, other are not in the list of top 10 arrangers.

Credit Suisse and DBS group, although lower in the rank, have gained market share by about half percent at a time when many foreign banks have shut India operations to support their overseas businesses.