Published: January 18, 2013
African development bank returns to debt markets and achieves tightest margin compared to US treasuries yet.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has returned to the international debt markets, raising US$1bn through a benchmark five-year bond.
The triple-A-rated bank priced the paper with a coupon of 0.875% and a spread of 5 basis points over mid-swaps. That works out at 20.45 basis points over US treasuries of a similar tenor, the tightest level the AfDB has achieved.
Demand from central banks was particularly high, the bank claims - along with other official institutions they accounted for some 75% of the order book, with asset managers, banks and corporates taking the remainder of the paper.
In terms of geography, 31% went to Asia, 30% to the Americas, 20% to Europe and 19% to the Middle East and Africa.
BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Nomura acted as joint lead managers on the deal.