National Bank of Oman (NBO) has successfully issued five-year senior unsecured USD 500 million notes as part of its updated and upsized USD 1.5 billion Euro Medium-Term Note (EMTN) programme. Unique to Omani financial institutions, the Bank simultaneously undertook a liability management exercise to buy back USD 300 million face value of notes out of its existing USD 600 million five-year notes maturing in October 2019. The new issue of USD 500 million, which was oversubscribed by more than two times, was priced at 5y Mid-swap plus 270 basis points.
The four-city roadshow in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and London held in September of this year resulted in positive investor feedback and was reflected in the size of the order book with active participation from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. This helped the Bank develop a broader investor and depositor base.
“Our success in the bond issuance has demonstrated to the capital market that we are a strong, agile and progressive organisation. Our base of investors has broadened with wider geographic reach, re-asserting NBO’s global reputation as a solid business and financial partner,” said Al Sayyid Wasfi Jamshid Al Said, Acting Chief Executive Officer of National Bank of Oman said. “I would like to extended our gratitude and appreciation to the regulatory authorities for their support and to the local and international investors for their participation.”
The latest bond issuance is a positive reflection of the potential and future growth of Oman’s economy. This places the Bank in a strong and unique position to provide the required lending to large corporates in addition to infrastructure project financing, which contribute to achieving national diversification goals and advancing the socio-economic development of the Sultanate.
Al Said added, “The banking sector plays a decisive role in the development of industry and trade. We continuously strive to deliver compelling and innovative products and solutions to our customers that will fuel the local economy as part of our vision to be the Sultanate’s bank of choice.”
The liabilities management exercise and new issuance was achieved with the support and collaboration of key partners: Citi and Crédit Agricole CIB as the Global Coordinators and Dealer Managers, while Bank ABC, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, National Bank of Oman and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Dealer Managers, Joint Lead Managers and Book Runners.
