Published: March 26, 2012
Dubai’s Emirates NBD has continued a record year for debt issuance in the Middle East by raising US$1bn through a five-year bond.
The bank secured the funds in its third deal in the debt markets this year – in January it issued a US$500mn sukuk and in early March became the first Middle Eastern issuer to access the yuan market, raising CNY1bn (US$158.5mn).
The latest bond, which has a 4.625% coupon, was three times over-subscribed, receiving orders from more than 200 investors in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Emirates NBD are understood to be bookrunners.
The debt markets in the Middle East have seen record issuance in the year to date. Emirates NBD’s bond takes the value of issuance so far in 2012 to some US$12bn, almost double the previous high of US$6.3bn in 2007.
International fund raisings from Middle East issuers stand at US$6.5bn, a 17% increase on the US$5.4bn issued in early 2011 according to analysis by Dealogic, which tracks such deals. Domestic issuance is also at a year-to-date high of US$4.5bn.
Sukuk issuances account for 54% of volume so far this year, the highest proportion ever.
HSBC leads the international debt capital markets league table with a 15% share, followed by Standard Chartered Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, with 10% and 9.2% respectively.