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Apicorp’s latest benchmark $750m bond achieves lowest-ever spread

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development financial institution, has announced the successful issuance of a benchmark $750 million dollar-denominated five-year bond aimed at further bolstering the corporation’s business operations and capital and liquidity positions.

The latest and final transaction of Apicorp’s $3 billion Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) program launched in 2020, the issuance was more than 2.5 times oversubscribed, with around 57 per cent of the more than $2 billion in orders coming from central banks, multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) investors.

The final spread was +69 basis points with a 1.26 per cent yield, both of which are the lowest ever for an Apicorp bond issuance of this type. The geographic distribution of the deal was also the most well-diversified in Apicorp’s history, with 82 per cent of the 65 investors in the transaction coming from outside the Mena region.

Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, Apicorp’s chief executive officer, sad: “We are immensely pleased with the success of our latest US dollar bond issuance. The ability for Apicorp to issue in benchmark size and at historical low pricing, especially amid these challenging times in the global markets, speaks volumes of the stature of Apicorp in the global debt capital markets. In further bolstering our already strong capital and liquidity positions, we can continue to forge ahead with our development mandate in supporting projects that advance the sustainable development of the energy sector, both in the region and beyond.”

Dr. Sherif Elsayed Ayoub, chief financial officer of Apicorp, said: “This benchmark issuance represents another important milestone for Apicorp, as it allows us, in line with our long-term funding strategy, to further broaden and diversify our funding sources and deepen the relationship with our investor base. The ever-expanding range and high caliber of investors – including both regional and global central banks and official institutions – clearly reflects Apicorp’s status as a leading multilateral development bank at the global level, and attests to the high-quality nature of its credit profile.”

Apicorp’s strong capital adequacy, robust asset quality, and resilient asset performance as well as strong liquidity and funding positions were key factors in Moody’s affirming the Corporation’s credit rating at ‘Aa2’ and earning it an ‘AA’ rating from Fitch, both with a stable outlook, the only financial institution in Mena with these ratings.

The Global Coordinators, Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners included Citibank, BofA Securities, Nomura, China Construction Bank (Asia), Maybank, Emirates NBD Capital, and Standard Chartered Bank. Apicorp’s legal counsel on the deal was Allen & Overy while the Joint Lead Managers’ legal counsel was Clifford Chance.

business@khaleejtimes.com