Citi proud to partner Govt. of Sri Lanka in $ 1.5 b dual-tranche int’l sovereign offering

Citi achieved yet another milestone on 11 July by partnering with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government to successfully raise $ 1.5 billion in a dual-tranche 5.5- and 10-year bond offering.

The Notes were priced at a coupon and re-offer yield of 5.750% and 6.825% for the 5.5-year and 10-year tranche, respectively. Both the 5.5-year and 10-year tranche were priced well inside the respective initial price guidance of 6.125% area and 7.125% area.

Driven by high quality institutional accounts globally, both the 5.5-year and 10-year tranche attracted orders from over 200 accounts. The 5.5-year tranche saw allocations of 35% to the US, 37% to Europe, and the remaining 28% to Asia. By investor type, the split was 85% to fund managers, 8% to insurance and pension funds, 3% to banks, and 4% to private banks. The 10-year tranche saw allocations of 62% to the US, 28% to Europe, and the remaining 10% to Asia. By investor type, the split was 91% to fund managers, 7% to insurance and pension funds, 2% to banks and private banks.

The bonds have been rated ‘B1’, ‘B+’ and ‘B+’ by Moody’s Investors Service Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings respectively. This marks the Republic’s tenth US dollar benchmark offering in the international bond markets since 2007.

Citi Country Officer for Sri Lanka Ravin Basnayake said: “Citi is honoured to have once again partnered with the Government of Sri Lanka in this successful transaction. The global investor support for this transaction underlines the strong confidence investors have in Sri Lanka’s credit story. We are proud to have yet again supported the country in creating this new benchmark in the international capital markets.”

This landmark transaction represents the country’s return to the US dollar bond markets and Citi acted as Joint Lead Manager, Joint Bookrunner and Ratings advisor reflecting Citi’s global capabilities, dominant market position and global network presence.

Citi Markets Head Saneth Gamage commenting on the deal said, “Given the current market conditions prevailing in the global markets the investor appetite towards this issuance was commendable. The order book saw overwhelming support globally with one of the biggest order books we have seen for the Republic within recent years –$ 2.5 billion and $ 3.0 billion respectively for the individual tranches and more than 400 investors in total.”

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.