FAB prices largest Middle Eastern bank euro-denominated bond issue

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), has priced a euro 750 million five-year bond at mid-swap +55bps with an all-in yield of 0.142 per cent. This was FAB’s first euro denominated benchmark issuance and achieved several landmarks including the lowest-ever yield on any public bond issuance from Mena as well as the largest-ever euro issuance by a bank from Mena.

The deal was a huge success attracting a total orderbook of euro1.7 billion from over 110 investors representing a 2.3x over-subscription. FAB was able to attract high quality euro investors including large European central banks, asset managers, Sovereigns, Supranational and Agencies (SSAs). This enabled FAB to tighten pricing by 20bps from initial price thoughts and price at EUR MS +55bps, which compares favourably to FAB’s USD funding levels when swapped back to USD.

This deal also represents FAB’s fifth public deal in 2021 — all in different currencies (USD, CNH, CHF, GBP and now EUR) which is testament to the bank’s access to a global pool of investors in different currencies and markets. FAB is also the only bank from the Middle East to have issued in all these markets to date.

Rula Al Qadi, managing director and head of group funding at FAB said: “Today, with our hugely successful debut deal in the Euro market we achieved another funding objective of diversifying and accessing a new pool of investors to further deepen our funding base. Almost 91 per cent of the deal was placed with high quality European investors while we also achieved a larger size than originally targeted, and at the same time priced slightly inside our USD curve. This is the fifth currency in which we have issued this year, taking advantage of not only market liquidity but also currency movements as we swap back to USD.” — business@khaleejtimes.com