Middle East
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Central bank governors, chief executives, fintech pioneers and bankers met at the GCC Financial Forum hosted by Euromoney in Bahrain's capital Manama to discuss the reinvention of financial services and its impact on markets. Low oil prices and fiscal dilemmas across the region have not deterred capital market participants from robust activity, as investors and lenders exude confidence in the capacity of regional banks to incorporate financial innovation into their products. -
Almarai, the largest dairy company in the Middle East, has tightened price guidance for its dollar benchmark sukuk as investors jump on the offer of exposure to a company of “critical importance to Saudi and the GCC”.
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Qatar International Islamic Bank has tightened price guidance on its five year sukuk and set the size of the deal at $500m after books for the note exceeded $2.9bn.
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Sir Gerry Grimstone, whose departure from Barclays was announced last week, is joining a joint venture between Investcorp and Aberdeen Standard Investments as chair.
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A potent mix of ingredients this week yielded some of the most fertile primary market conditions of the year across credit classes. Borrowers emerged from blackouts blinking into a dazzlement of demand. Now they are urged to do the deals they have long dreamed of before the market sours.
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The strength of demand for emerging market new issues this week was a surprise to many on the sell-side. Every deal from the CEEMEA region flew, with each pulling off a spectacular result.
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A Lebanese former investment banker and advocate of public-private partnerships (PPPs) has been nominated to challenge Donald Trump’s candidate for the role of president of the World Bank Group.
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Türk Telekom printed a $500m six year bond on Thursday at 7%, capping an extraordinary week in the CEEMEA bond markets. The company's outstanding paper had rallied following the release of initial price guidance for the bond, such was the demand for exposure to the credit.
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Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the country's sovereign wealth fund, sold its $600m five year sukuk on Wednesday at a level that was so tight it even took the deal’s lead managers by surprise.
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Over the past year, Asian investors have become pickier about which Gulf credits they buy, and it has felt to some in emerging market bonds that marketing Middle East issuers to them can be futile. But a storming success for Mashreqbank this week demonstrated that engaging Asian investors is worth the jet lag.
