Middle East

Some 10 months after the eruption of the Gulf diplomatic crisis last summer, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have proved that the market is big enough for both of them, printing $11bn and $12bn deals respectively, and garnering a combined book exceeding $100bn.

Three new retail listings this week marked the renaissance of Turkey's IPO market. But if trying to do three similar deals simultaneously wasn't hard enough work, they come just as the country's economic prospects and the part it plays in the Syrian conflict are of growing concern for investors, writes Sam Kerr.

The State of Qatar had taken orders of $32.5bn by lunchtime on Thursday, putting to bed any concerns that Saudi Arabia’s $11bn trade would cannibalise demand for its regional rival. In fact the strong performance of Saudi’s paper in the secondary market has helped boost support for Qatar’s trade, according to a banker on the deal.

Banks are preparing to finance Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale wind power project, at Dumat Al Jandal in the northern province of Al Jawf.

Two Middle Eastern issuers were on track to price sukuk on Wednesday, but Saudi Arabia’s jumbo $11bn bond has cast a shadow over Sharjah Islamic Bank’s trade and led to decreased demand from outside of the region, according to a Dubai-based banker on that deal.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia printed its $11bn bond on Tuesday, which several bankers and investors thought had been timed to maximise disruption of Qatar’s return to market, which is also expected this week. But leads said the modest size taken by Saudi from a $50bn book showed that there was no intention of throwing the capital markets into disarray.

Seven new banks have joined Stanbic Kenya's loan, which will be signed on Thursday, leading to a heavy oversubscription, but the borrower declined to take any more money than the $100m it had set out to raise.

Saudi and Qatar look to be printing jumbo bonds this week, but the timing of both in the same few days after so many months of waiting is prompting chatter about which sovereign has caused the traffic jam and whether political machinations are behind it.

Three Turkish retail IPOs' sale processes have been launched this week, adding more deals to what is already a busy emerging markets pipeline.

Turkish real estate developer Ronesans Gayrimenkul Yatirim (RGY) has announced plans for a global roadshow ahead of a planned dollar Eurobond debut.

The Commercial Bank of Qatar has signed a $250m borrowing with seven banks, in a deal syndicated in the Asian loan market.

Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, set final terms for its $500m bond on Thursday afternoon in London.