UAE to issue dollar-benchmarked dual-tranche sovereign bonds
The UAE government is rated AA- by Fitch and Aa2 by Moody’s with a stable outlook
The UAE government is set to issue dual-tranche USD benchmark size bonds with a 10-year tranche and a 30-year Formosa tranche.
The 10-year tranche will be listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Nasdaq Dubai, and the 30-year tranche will be listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE), Taipei Exchange, and Nasdaq Dubai.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Bank of America Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC Bank, J.P. Morgan Securities, Mashreqbank and Standard Chartered Bank will be the lead managers and bookrunners to arrange and market to investors, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China joining the mandated group as co-manager.
The issuance of the UAE’s second sovereign bonds will be in accordance with Rule 144A / Regulation S under the Securities Act of the United States. The UAE federal government is rated AA- by Fitch, and Aa2 by Moody’s with a stable outlook for the national economy.
TAQA bond listing
The utility company TAQA (or Abu Dhabi National Energy) has made a secondary listing on the ADX of nine bonds with a combined value of $8.25 billion, maturing between 2023 and 2051.
The bonds were in the main issued as part of TAQA’s Global Medium Term Note Programme and listed on the London Stock Exchange. The bonds range in size from $500 million to $1.5 billion, with issuance tenors from 7 years to 30. The bonds have fixed coupons ranging from 2-6.5 per cent with coupons distributed semi-annually. The listing of TAQA’s bonds takes the number of debt instruments listed on the ADX to 37.
Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and CEO of ADX, said: “TAQA’s secondary listing of $8.25 billion of bonds on the ADX demonstrates the robust confidence that fixed-income issuers have in our flourishing debt capital market. At the same time, we are delighted to be offering market participants a greater range of securities on our exchange as part of our ‘ADX One’ strategy to enhance market liquidity and attract more international investors.”