GCC

It is clear that Saudi Aramco does not need the cash from the bond it looks set to raise next week. With that being the case, investors and bankers should bet on the lower end of any stated size range, and other Saudi issuers should be hoping that tight pricing is the priority

Indications of interest for Saudi Aramco’s bond are understood to have hit over $15bn, with the roadshow not finishing until Monday April 8.

The National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah came to market for $500m on Tuesday, managing to slice 25bp from initial price thoughts to the final spread.

Saudi Aramco’s jumbo M&A deal has a stranglehold on emerging markets debt investors’ attention and is dominating their schedules.

Network International, the Dubai-based payments company listing in London, was covered throughout its price range on its first day of bookbuilding on Monday. It built on a surge of momentum after it announced US firm Mastercard as a cornerstone investor in its IPO in March.

Saudi Aramco has published a bond programme prospectus and received its first credit ratings as it goes on the road to promote its first international capital markets transaction, which is expected to come to market this week.

State oil company Saudi Aramco is expected to tap the bond market in the next fortnight for a deal that could be anywhere in the region of $7bn-$15bn, according to bankers in the region away from the deal. Estimates of the premium Aramco will have to pay over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia curve is being discussed as negative to plus 15bp, depending on the size of the deal.

Aramco’s eagerly awaited $69.1bn deal to buy petrochemical firm Sabic landed this week, prompting speculation over the financing’s structure and timing. Loans bankers are expecting to cover a large portion of the deal and expect it will be well supported, writes Mariam Meskin.

The National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah has picked banks for a dollar benchmark, keeping up the steady flow of Middle Eastern paper.

Qatar National Bank hit the market on Thursday while Sharjah is going on the road to promote a sukuk.

Middle-Eastern payments company Network International is getting plenty of traction in pre-marketing for its IPO on the London Stock Exchange and has garnered interest from investors interested in anchoring the transaction, according to sources close to the IPO.

Qatar National Bank hit the market on Thursday, nipping into the market just behind Qatar Islamic Bank’s $750m five year sukuk. Its Middle Eastern neighbour, Sharjah, is going on the road to promote its own sukuk.