Bharti Airtel dollar bond in limbo

Bharti Airtel’s dollar bond has been in limbo since the company completed a non-deal roadshow earlier this month. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS are mandated as bookrunners. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are joint leads.

According to one banker who had pitched for the deal, banks were asked to provide pricing levels and, at that time, Bharti Airtel had asked banks to commit to pricing a bond in the region of Treasuries plus 250bp. The company is expected to issue a 10-year bond.

This has led to widespread speculation that the deal is backstopped by the mandated leads. One banker on...