Middle East Bonds
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Bahrain Mumtalakat, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, printed its $500m bond on Tuesday at 4.25% having tightened 62.5bp from initial guidance. -
First Abu Dhabi Bank printed a quick $500m five year Reg S sukuk on Tuesday morning in London. Because the deal was driven by reverse enquiry, leads started the execution process by announcing final guidance.
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Turkish lender Yapi Kredi ventured into the green bond market for the first time on Friday with a rare dollar private placement, its first since January 2016, according to Dealogic data.
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A week that started with a panic about the potential for conflict between Iran and the US appeared to end with capital market issuance conditions so good as to be marked “10 out of 10”. As the loan market defied Middle East risk, borrowers and bond bankers are gearing up for a week ahead of huge issuance, while equity bankers are ruing missed opportunities. Sam Kerr, Mariam Meskin and Francesca Young report.
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The State of Israel printed a $3bn dual tranche dollar bond on Thursday from a combined book of $20bn, helping to buoy confidence in the CEEMEA market as US-Iran tensions faded. The bond was Israel’s largest ever deal and its tightest price in terms of spread.
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Robert "Bob" Fernandez, a veteran of EM debt capital markets, has joined Saudi Aramco's treasury.
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Bahrain Mumtalakat, the country's sovereign wealth fund, is embarking on a roadshow with plans to print a seven year dollar sukuk. A syndicate official away from the deal called the move “courageous” given the political volatility in the Middle East.
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Many investors made their first trades of the new year on Monday selling risk positions. That has thrown into doubt issuers' plans to bring new business to the primary market.
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The State of Israel was first out of the blocks for emerging markets bonds on Monday, as it announced a dual tranche dollar offering despite market participants' continued caution after the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani.
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With emerging markets bond bankers all ready to start deploying their pipelines next week, the US threw a potential spanner in the works on Friday when it killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
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Equity-linked bond investors were left hurting again this week after bonds and shares in NMC Healthcare, the London-listed Emirati private healthcare business, were hit by accusations of fraud by short seller Muddy Waters. This is another painful episode for the convertible bond market after its troubles with Wirecard earlier in 2019, and an earlier scandal at Steinhoff International.
