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ABU DHABI / WAM
The Ministry of Finance, has successfully closed its offering of a US dollar-denominated 10-year $1.50 billion bond, maturing in July 2034. Issued with a yield of 4.857 percent, the bond represents a spread of 60 basis points over US Treasuries. The bond will be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Nasdaq Dubai. The bond issue attracted high-quality investors, with the order book $ 6.50 billion, firmly oversubscribing by more than 4 times by the final guidance. This overwhelming demand highlights the UAE’s growing appeal to both domestic and international investors, underscoring the country’s commitment to maintaining its status as one of the world’s most competitive and advanced economies.
Mohamed Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said, “The successful completion of another sovereign bond by the UAE is a testament to our nation’s enduring attractiveness to investors and our position as one of the world’s premier investment hubs.” He added, “The UAE has once again achieved outstanding results in its recent bond offering, attracting strong and diversified investor demand.”
“The robust order book led to price compression of 30 basis points from the initial pricing guidance, with the final pricing set at US Treasuries plus 60 basis points.” The joint lead managers and book-runners on the transaction were, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, HSBC Bank plc, JP Morgan Securities plc and Standard Chartered Bank. The geographic distribution of the 10-year bonds was as follows – 38 percent to investors from the Middle East, 34 percent to American investors, 18 percent to investors from the UK, 7 percent to European investors and 3 percent to Asian investors.
The final allocation of the 10-year bonds by investor type was 56 percent to fund managers, 40 percent to banks and private banks, 1 percent to pension funds and insurance, 1 percent to central banks and sovereign wealth funds and 2 percent to the other sectors. The Notes will be rated AA- by Fitch and Aa2 by Moody’s, consistent with the credit rating of the Federal Government of the United Arab Emirates. These strong international credit ratings reflect the UAE’s creditworthiness, which is driven by its high GDP per capita, innovative policies, strong international relationships, and resilience to economic and financial
challenges.