Oman

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.

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.

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.

Five banks have completed syndication of a $100m loan for Oman’s Bank Dhofar. The loan fills a funding gap while the bank waits to sell its first medium term note, the chief financial officer told GlobalCapital.

Omani borrowers have lit up the loan market with deals this year but Bahrain — another country vulnerable to oil price shocks — has seen little deal flow. Two large dollar deals for Bahraini borrowers in recent weeks, however, have shown the country is back in the fray.

National Bank of Oman has set terms for a $100m tap of its $500m 3.125% 2019s at 200bp over mid-swaps, which a syndicate official away from the deal said equates to a new issue premium of around 23bp.

Oman Shipping Company is syndicating an underwritten loan, after other state-owned Oman firms PDO and Dhofar Power Company wrapped up deals in recent weeks.

Oman on Wednesday printed the first benchmark sized note from the CEEMEA market since the UK’s vote to leave the European Union last Thursday sent markets into a tailspin.

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is leading a run of deals in the market from the sultanate, with the borrower said to be close to completing a loan of more than $3bn.

Rating: Baa1/BBB-/—

Oman successfully pinned down $2.5bn of funding through a dual tranche note this week, even as Saudi Arabia’s gargantuan bond creeps closer.

Oman has released final price guidance for its dual tranche note with order books in excess of $7bn.