Doha Bank Successfully Closes New Bond Issuance with Strong Investor Demand

Doha Bank Q.P.S.C., rated A by Fitch and Baa1 by Moody’s, successfully completed a USD 500 million 5-year senior unsecured bond at a yield of 2.431% per annum, which is equivalent to a credit spread of 150 basis points over 5-year Mid Swap Rate. The transaction was executed under the Bank’s USD 2 billion EMTN Issuance Program which is listed on London Stock Exchange, UK.

H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, the Chairman of the Bank, commented “Doha Bank is very pleased with the success of this transaction, which highlights the confidence placed by investors in Qatar, the Bank’s board, management team and its strategic direction. This was the first bond issuance in some time by the Bank and we are appreciative for the international investor base, that has supported us. Moving forward the Debt Capital Markets will play a bigger role in the bank’s funding strategy as the bank seeks to further diversify its funding base”.

The success of this transaction came on the back of a two-day marketing strategy aimed at updating international and regional investors with Doha Bank’s strategy and financial performance. The management team held a global investor call with institutional investors from Asia and Europe prior to placing the bond. Investor demand was strong and the orderbook peaked at c.USD 1.1 billion, representing slightly more than 2 times oversubscription. In terms of allocation to investors – 57% were asset managers, 31% were banks (include private banks), and 7% Insurance and 5% others. More importantly, the investor base was diversified geographically with, 48% of the bond issuance being allocated to the United Kingdom, 35% to the Middle East, 13% to Europe, and 4.0% to Asia.

The transaction was led by ING as sole Global Coordinator and Joint Lead Manager and Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Securities, MUFG and QNB Capital as Joint Lead Managers.