USD 800 million (INR 66,763 million) Senior Secured Notes (“Bonds”)

The Largest High Yield Debut USD Bond Issuance from India in the Last 10 Years

Summary Rationale:

·         Strategic refinancing of debt will improve liquidity profile and optimize the capital structure

·         Combined financing demonstrates access to a diversified pool of capital while being leverage neutral

Biocon Biologics Limited (“BBL” and “Company”), a subsidiary of Biocon Limited (BSE code: 532523, NSE: BIOCON), today announced the successful pricing of Biocon Biologics’ debut USD 800 million (INR 66,763 million) senior secured Notes due 2029 at a coupon of 6.67%. The Bonds will be issued by Biocon Biologics Global plc which is a wholly owned subsidiary of BBL and will be backed by a strong security package. The Bonds are expected to be rated BB by both S&P and Fitch and will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The transaction is expected to settle on October 09, 2024 subject to customary closing conditions.

Key Transaction Highlights:  

• Debut USD bond issuance from Biocon Group
• First USD bond issuance by a biopharmaceutical company in Asia Pacific
• Largest debut issuance from a high yield rated issuer from India in the past 10 years
• Robust participation from top marquee real money investors globally – testament to BBL’s strong credit profile and investor confidence in its growth potential
• Peak orderbook in excess of USD 2.5 billion (INR 208,634 million) demonstrating an oversubscription of over 3x of the issue size
• The final orderbook is well diversified in terms of investor type across fund managers, institutions, banks, and others as well as geography with the U.S. constituting 47%, EMEA 27% and Asia 26%

BofA Securities, Citigroup, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Global Coordinators, Lead Managers and Bookrunners and BNP PARIBAS and Mizuho acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners.

Additionally, Biocon Biologics has entered into a commitment agreement for a new syndicated debt facility. The proceeds of the Bonds, together with the new syndicated debt facility being raised, will be used to substantially re-finance existing debt of USD 1.1 billion (INR 93,468 million) which will help improve the Company’s liquidity profile, provide financial flexibility and opportunity to re-invest the cash into the business.

Shreehas Tambe, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Biologics, said, "This strategic refinancing underscores our commitment to enhance financial flexibility, fuels Biocon Biologics' long-term growth and is core to the consolidation phase of our business. We expect this transaction to strengthen our capital structure and allow us to re-deploy investments into the business, including advancing our differentiated pipeline of biosimilars. It will also enable us to diversify our investor base to include marquee global funds and healthcare investors who seek to participate in Biocon Biologics’ growth story.”

Kedar Upadhye, Chief Financial Officer, Biocon Biologics, said, “The refinancing of our debt through Bonds and syndicated term loans demonstrates strong financial flexibility and continued access to a diversified pool of capital. This successful debut bond issuance by Biocon Group at a global level highlights the strong credit profile of the biosimilars business. As part of this issuance, the Company went through a robust rating exercise from leading international agencies with the bonds expected to be rated as “BB” from both S&P and Fitch.”