GCC

Bahrain looked set for a successful dollar market return as books built rapidly for its dual tranche bond following the release of initial price thoughts early Tuesday.

After completing its first international bond issue earlier this year, Qatar’s Ahli Bank has also signed a $195m club loan — its second ever loan from international banks.

Rating: Baa1/BBB-

Oman locked down $1.5bn this week, pricing “wisely” with a decent new issue premium and kicking off a busy few weeks of issuance from the Gulf Corporation Council’s oil rich, but cash poor, sovereigns as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia ready trades.

Union National Bank of the UAE nipped into the primary market a $600m bond on Wednesday, well ahead of competing supply, paying a skinny, if any, new issue premium.

Oman left a chunky new issue premium on the table with its latest $1.5bn bond sale, but with competing supply looming, and a market backdrop that included two pulled trades, EM bankers said it was a prudent move that resulted in a great trade and over $4bn of orders.

Lenders are finalising a $190m loan for Ahli Bank QSC which has been arranged in a club format, according to a banker on the deal.

Books were nearly $2bn for the UAE's Union National Bank’s return to the markets on Wednesday With issuance from UAE banks limited thus far, the 20bp-25bp starting premium offered good value, according to one EM banker.

The Middle East bond floodgates have finally opened but with Bahrain hitting the road this week and Saudi Arabia's deal looming, supply concerns have prompted Oman to reopen its dual tranche tap at “eye-wateringly wide” levels.

Renminbi adoption has surged in the United Arab Emirates while lagging behind in the Eurozone, according to the latest data by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift). The Chinese authorities also seem ready to increase RMB connectivity with the Middle East through a number of new initiatives.

Union National Bank (UNB) has announced plans to return to the dollar bond market after an absence of nearly two years.

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) signed a Sr5bn ($1.3bn) Islamic loan this week, having already secured $3.8bn in dollar loans this year.