GCC

The State of Qatar on Tuesday issued a $10bn three tranche bond, with a final demand book in excess of $44bn. The deal came in the wake of extreme oil price volatility, though Qatar has buffers to protect it against any major economic shocks.

London-listed UAE payments company Network International has refinanced an existing loan, raising $525m from regional and international lenders.

Saudi Aramco’s IPO last year was a historic event for the company and its owner, Saudi Arabia, but despite a record $29.4bn being raised at IPO, international investors stayed away. They had demanded that the shares offered a discount to other listed oil majors, in part because of the political risk associated with the company. The fact it is now a tool in Saudi Arabia’s oil price war with Russia will have vindicated many in their decision to sit out the deal.

Emerging markets bondholders started the week in another round of pain as the price of oil fell to a 17-year low, dragging down risk sentiment and putting fiscal balances into more doubt.

NMC Health’s $360m convertible bonds are trading at mere cents on the dollar, suggesting virtually no recovery value after the scandal-hit UAE hospitals group said on Tuesday it had discovered even more undisclosed debt.

Kuwait's Equate Petrochemical stuck its head above the parapet this week, holding investor calls for a triple-tranche bond issue.

Oman’s Bank Muscat, which is part-owned by the Sultanate of Oman, raised a $650m loan from international lenders. The loan was announced amid Moody's downgrading the bank and the Omani sovereign, the latest in a string of rating actions that have pushed the challenged Gulf nation into junk territory.

Finablr’s shares have been suspended and the company has warned that it may go out of business just ten months after ts IPO.

Finablr, the parent company of Travelex, has issued a warning that it may struggle to access financing due to the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus and its association with NMC Health, causing its share price to slump to a record low.

NMC Health, the scandal-hit UAE-based hospitals operator, has $2.7bn in undisclosed debt, taking its total gross debt to around $5bn, and an investigation into its finances has found evidence of serious fraud.

Saudi Arabian fashion retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair has raised an $800m multi-currency loan with a consortium of local lenders.

Dubai Islamic Bank, which began roadshows over a week ago for a senior unsecured sukuk, has postponed the deal as a result of the Covid-19 virus, according to bankers near the deal. The spread of the virus has caused sharp swings in global markets, causing havoc in primary markets.