Middle East Bonds

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) issued its first post-merger Kangaroo bond on Tuesday, raising A$350m ($234.9m) — becoming the first Middle Eastern bank to tap the market in two years.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is ready to hop into the Kangaroo market this week, having mandated a pair of banks to lead a potential five year Aussie dollar deal, offering an attractive spread.

Shares in NMC Health, the beleaguered UAE healthcare company, surged as much as 18% on Monday morning after it said it had received takeover approaches from buyout firms KKR and GK Investment.

First Abu Dhabi Bank signalled its intention to tap the sterling bond market on Monday, announcing investor calls for a short dated offering.

Qatar National Bank returned to the euro market for the first time since March 2018 this week, while there was also an unusual outing in Saudi riyal as Emirates NBD made its debut in the currency — the first from a non-Saudi issuer since 2018.

Qatar National Bank took $1bn from bond markets on Wednesday as it tapped investors for the second time this year, with just 1% allocated to Gulf Co-operation Council-based investors.

Qatar National Bank has tightened price guidance for its second international bond of this year and books are already in excess of 3bn for the $1bn-maximum trade.

Market participants at the Euromoney Sustainability MENA Conference in Dubai this week highlighted the importance of regulation as a driving force that could propel progress in sustainable finance.

Vereker goes to JP Morgan — SG picks new CEEMEA DCM head — Goldman names new cross markets head

Citi has appointed Carmen Haddad as its vice-chair for the Middle East. During her time as country officer of Saudi Arabia, the bank has been involved in some of that country’s most notable capital markets deals.

The risk that huge amounts of oil and gas assets will be stranded by moves to tackle the climate emergency may be more pertinent for sovereign credit than for private sector corporate debt, according to new research.

Samba Financial Group sold its $500m seven year bond on Wednesday from a book of $2.3bn. A syndicate official on the deal said that follow-on demand from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia triple tranche print on Tuesday helped to propel the deal.