SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has hired Citi, JP Morgan and HSBC to arrange a potential new Eurobond, Reuters quoted sources close to the deal as saying. The sources told Reuters the Eurobond was due to be denominated in US dollars but didn’t put a value on it.
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(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)
MAY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) started promoting its Eurobond issue. IBA plans to issue between $350m and $500m of Eurobonds. Azerbaijan’s ministry of finance owns 50.2% of IBA. The Eurobond sale will indicate investors’ appetite for Azerbaijan.
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(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)
MARCH 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s tough times for emerging market economies. Currencies are under pressure from an upturn in the US economy and Russia’s moves in Ukraine have made people nervous.
Azerbaijan, though, seems to be handling all this with aplomb with the successful launch of its inaugural $1.2b 10-year Eurobond.
Analysts said that orders came in for around 4b, making the issue more than three times over-subscribed.
The yield came in at around 5%, roughly 200 basis points over US treasures. This shows that investors feel that Azerbaijan is a relatively good bet at the moment — certainly better than other parts of the former Soviet Union which have been dented by the brewing crisis in Ukraine.
Although analysts have said that Azerbaijan does not need to issue the loan, it may have wanted to put a marker down for any future issues.
It will also help other companies from Azerbaijan gauge how easy, or difficult, it is to enter the debt market. The state-controlled International Bank of Azerbaijan said it may look to enter the debt market this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)
MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan started preparations for its Eurobond debut despite a downturn in emerging market debt. Azerbaijan is cash rich and doesn’t really need to borrow market on the international market. Instead it may use the Eurobond for promoting the country and setting a benchmark for other debt issues.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
SEPT. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will delay the issue of its long-muted $1b Eurobond until next year, Kuat Akizhanov, head of the ministry of finance’s borrowing department said in an interview with local media. Kazakhstan, which has not issued a Eurobond since 2007, has been talking about a sovereign debt issue throughout the year.
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(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)
SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kim Kardashian, the 32-year-old Los Angeles-based ethnic Armenian, is best known across the globe for starring in a reality TV show. Now she’ll also be known, in some circles at least, for lending her name to Armenia’s inaugural sovereign debt issue.
Armenia’s $700m Eurobond issue on Sept. 23, unofficially dubbed the ‘Kardashian bond’, did rather well. This was Armenia’s first sovereign debt issue and a real test of investors’ confidence in the country and appetite for risk in the South Caucasus.
Armenia’s government had said it needed to raise the cash to pay back a $500m loan it borrowed from Russia in 2009 to weather the global financial crisis.
It’s been a busy, somewhat controversial, year for Armenia with a disputed presidential election in February and a surprise decision last month to eschew closer ties with the EU to instead join Russia’s Customs Union. The economy, too, has caused some concern with inflation hovering around 9%, far above the Central Bank’s target.
Regardless, investors warmed to Armenia’s Kardashian bond and the initial yield on the 7-year bond was shortened to 6.25% from 6.375%, according to Reuters.
Not a bad debut on the sovereign debt market for Armenia and Kim Kardashian.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
AUG. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank appointed Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan to lead the issue of its inaugural $500m Eurobond, media reported. In May, Armenia said it wanted to issue the debt to pay off a $500m loan from Russia it had borrowed during the 2009 global financial crisis.
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(News report from Issue No. 147, published on Aug. 12 2013)
JULY 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has hired Citigroup, HSBC and JP Morgan to advise it on issuing a $1b Eurobond, Reuters reported quoting unnamed market sources. Kazakhstan has been saying for months that it is weighing up issuing its first sovereign debt since 2000.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
MAY 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has invited banks to manage a $1b debt issue, its first since 2007, finance minister Bolat Zhamishev told media. The announcement is significant as Kazakhstan is cash-rich from oil production; the debt issue will act as a barometer of the market’s interest in Kazakh debt.
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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)
NOV. 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded Kazakhstan’s sovereign debt rating to BBB+, one notch above Russia. The upgrade is a significant boost to Kazakhstan’s political and business elite. Standard & Poor’s highlighted Kazakhstan’s projected increase in oil exports.
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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)