Doha: Commercial Bank recently announced the successful issuance and pricing of a $600m five-year senior unsecured bond under the Bank and its subsidiary, CBQ Finance Limited’s $5bn European Medium Term Note (“EMTN”) Programme. The issue was arranged and offered through a syndicate of Joint Lead Managers comprising Citibank, Barclays, ANZ, Mizuho, UniCredit, QNB Capital and Doha Bank.
To support the issue, representatives from Commercial Bank embarked on a virtual road show with the Joint Lead Managers. During the virtual roadshow, they presented to financial institutions, pension funds, asset managers and supranational bodies, and held one-to-one and group meetings.
Following the end of the Investor meetings, the transaction saw strong demand, with approximately $2bn order book (an oversubscription by approximately x 4) allowing Commercial Bank to tighten the final spread. The bond was issued at a spread of 100 basis points over mid-swaps, carries a coupon of 4.625% and has a final reoffer yield of 4.689% per annum.
The Bank achieved its lowest spread ever booked by robust international demand.
Although the spread was tightened by 25 basis points the book remained strong reflecting strong investor appetite. The net proceeds of the issue will be used for general funding purposes to support the strategic growth plans of the Bank.
Very high-quality investors from the global community participated in this issue, with the majority of investors from the MENA (54%) and Europe (22%), followed by Asia (17%) and offshore US (7%). The investor base is diversified, including some of the world’s leading fixed income investors, with strong demand from fund managers, sovereign funds, banks and GCC institutions.
Commenting on the announcement, EGM, Treasury and Investments at Commercial Bank, Parvez Khan said: “We are delighted by the investor response to our issuance under the EMTN Programme. The market demand and attractive pricing is a clear indication of the continuing confidence of international investors in the economic strength of Qatar, and is testament to Commercial Bank’s strategy, financial strength and prudent management.”
Commercial Bank was the first Qatari entity to establish an EMTN Programme with a listing on the London Stock Exchange, and the first Qatari bank to issue a bond in the international capital markets.
The bonds are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and are rated A by Fitch.
