SBI to lend $1.5 bn more to Tatas for Corus buy
Business Standard — September 29, 2007

State Bank of India (SBI) will lend another $1-1.5 billion to Tata Steel UK to enable the Tata Group to refinance a part of the bridge loans taken by it for the acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus.

Tata Steel is unable to raise funds from foreign banks, which have turned risk-averse following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. The Indian conglomerate has therefore turned to the country's largest lender for funding support. The fresh loan will be in addition to the $1 billion SBI sanctioned late last month.

SBI will take the enhanced exposure to Tata Steel through its overseas branches.

This will become a substantially bigger acquisition financing exposure of SBI, considering that it till now was involved in deals only of less than $100 million.

Tata needed refinance to pay-off $7.2 billion of bridge loans taken for the biggest buyout by an Indian company.

According to reports, over $500 billion of fund-raising has been caught in a global credit logjam caused by risk aversion among banks and other investors.