With yet another foreign convertible bond default hitting our desk, we cannot help but wonder what the future has in store for Asian convertible bonds and debt capital markets restructurings.  This is particularly relevant when you consider that Indian companies and banks issued foreign currency bonds aggregating up to approximately $6.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013.  This momentum continued throughout 2013 with Indian companies expected to raise another $10 billion by the beginning of 2014 by issuing foreign currency bonds in the international capital markets.

The Story so far

The convertible bond has always been a favourite of corporate India.  Turning back the clock, one would recall that, particularly between 2005 and 2008, several companies across multiple industries used a variety of structures to access the international debt capital markets by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) to investors. Such issuers included National Thermal Power Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, Tata Steel, Tata Communications, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Amtek Auto and Rural Electrification Corporation (just a few names amongst an endless list of issuers back in the day).

Fast forward to 2014 and FCCB defaults have dominated recent headlines (think major companies like Sterling Biotech, KSL and Industries and Suzlon Energy).
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