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Nine banks underwrite new EBRD rouble bond
Rate on first quarterly coupon set at 5.56 percent
The EBRD has completed the placement of its second rouble bond, underwritten
by a syndicate of nine international and Russian banks. The rate on the first
coupon has been set at 5.56 percent.
This new 5-billion rouble (equivalent to €147 million) five-year floating rate
instrument is being launched by the EBRD to meet the strong demand in Russia
for the Bank’s local currency loans. The EBRD raised its first rouble bond in
May 2005 for exactly the same amount and with the same tenor.
The Russian subsidiaries of Citibank and Raiffeisenbank Austria are the Joint
Lead Arrangers of the new issue – with JP Morgan Bank International, ABN Amro
Bank AO, ING Bank (Eurasia) ZAO, Bank WestLB Vostok (ZAO) acting as senior
co-lead managers. SAO Commerzbank(Eurasija) and Gazprombank are co-lead
managers. Vneshtorgbank is the co-manager. ING will also act as the
Calculation Agent for the issue.
The new EBRD bond’s floating rate coupon is once again linked to MosPrime
Rate, a money market index launched last year under the auspices of Russia’s
National Currency Association (NCA).
The MosPrime rate is calculated daily for 1-months, 2-months and 3-months
deposits based on the quotes contributed by eight banks: ABN Amro, ZAO
Citibank, Gazprombank, International Moscow Bank, Raiffeisenbank, Sberbank,
Vneshtorgbank and WestLB.
The launch of the EBRD’s second floating rate note underscores the development
of the MosPrime Rate as a widely accepted money market benchmark in Russia
since its launch in April 2005. Several public transactions have been linked
to this index in the past year, the most recent, as well as the largest, being
a 7.2 billion rouble (equivalent to €212 million) loan for Mosenergo.
The new issue was registered with the Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS)
on April 11. Just as with the first issue, the EBRD will apply for its bonds
to be listed and traded on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) and
for the Central Bank to include them in its Lombard list. This would make the
bond available for repo transactions with the Central Bank.
The issue pays a quarterly coupon, with the coupon rate reset every three
months in line with the then prevailing MosPrime offered rates. The coupon
rate for the bond will be published at Reuters page EBRDRUBFRNRATE.
The EBRD enjoys an AAA/Aaa rating from international rating agencies.
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