Kuwait raises $3.25bln in dual-tranche debt sale
By Staff Writer
Kuwait has raised $3.25 billion in its latest debt issuance, a dual-tranche offering with three-year and 10-year tenors that saw a collective orderbook of $7.8 billion.
The three-year offering raised $2.25 billion, priced at par, with a semi-annual coupon of 5.619%. The yield was also set at 5.619%, with the spread tightened to 75 basis points over US Treasuries.
IPTs for this tranche were in the T+105bps area.
The 10-year tenor raised $1 billion, priced at par, with a coupon and yield of 6.198%. The spread was set at T+105bps from IPTs in the T+130bps area.
The final orderbook for the shorter tenor was in excess of $4.6 billion, excluding JLM interest, with the 10-year drawing an orderbook of $3.2 billion, excluding JLM.
The settlement date is October 26.
Kuwait has issued the senior unsecured notes through the Ministry of Finance, with an expected rating of AA- (S&P), AA- (Fitch) (all stable), in line with Kuwait’s own.
Citi, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, JP Morgan, and SMBC are the joint global coordinators, while Barclays, Citi, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, ICBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and SMBC are the mandated joint lead managers and bookrunners.
HSBC is the billing and delivery bank on the three-year tenor, while JP Morgan has been mandated on the 10-year.
The notes will be listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market.
In July, Kuwait raised $6 billion in debt through a three-tranche bond offering with investor demand driving the combined orderbook to more than $14.75 billion. While the $3 billion three-year issuance drew a marginally tightened spread of T+70bps compared to the October offering, the $1.5 billion 10-year raise drew a much tighter spread at T+85bps from IPTs in the T+110bps area.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)