Qatar has placed the Middle East’s largest ever bond issue – a triple-tranche $9bn deal. But this is set to be topped by Saudi Arabia’s plans to raise $15bn.
The 25 May Qatari issue consisted of a $3.5bn 5-year tranche at 120bp over US Treasuries, a $3.5bn 10-year tranche at 150bp, and a $2bn 30-year tranche at 210bp. The total raised was almost double Qatar’s original $5bn target. Pricing no doubt was helped by the fact that Qatar ties with Kuwait and Abu Dhabi as having the GCCs best sovereign ratings: Moody’s, S&P and Fitch all give it their third highest rating (Aa2, AA and AA respectively; two, four and one notches higher than Saudi Arabia). (CONTINUED - 407 WORDS)
