Citi delighted with success of NSB’s $ 250 m Bond Issue
Thursday, 18 September 2014 00:06
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American banking giant’s Sri Lanka branch acts as Joint bookrunner and Joint Lead Manager
Citi has expressed its delight over the recent success of the National Savings Bank’s (NSB) US$ 250 million Bond Issurance.
Citi acted as Joint Bookrunner and Joint Lead Manager for this transaction that represented the lowest yield outside of the sovereign itself.
NSB raised $ 250 million from the international debt market via a five-year bond. NSB is a policy bank wholly-owned by the Government of Sri Lanka. The transaction had over $ 2 billion in orders, underlining the strength of demand for NSB and strong investor interest in Sri Lanka. The coupon of 5.15% represented the lowest coupon by a Sri Lankan institution in the international debt capital markets.
“Citi Sri Lanka is extremely proud to be associated with NSB in achieving this significant outcome, which was the lowest yield attracted by a Sri Lankan issuer outside of the sovereign. The incredible pricing outcome was achieved due to an overwhelming demand from a high-quality investor base,” Citi Sri Lanka Country Officer Ravin Basnayake said.
“Citi acted as Joint Lead Manager for all recent bond issuances by the Government of Sri Lanka, inaugural Bank of Ceylon Bond in 2012, National Savings Bank’s initial $ 750 million bond offering and DFCC Bank’s Bond issuance in 2013. Our role in these deals augurs well with our strategy in Sri Lanka in using the strong Citi global franchise and presence to broaden the reach of our local clients,” Basnayake added.
Citi Sri Lanka Financial Institutions Head Dinithi Ratnayake added: “This is a fantastic outcome for both NSB and Sri Lanka, and Citi is proud to be a part of it. The deal closed with a high demand resulting in an orderbook in excess of $ 2 billion and an 8.4 times oversubscription. This is testament to the continued interest we have received from global investors for high quality bond issuances out of Sri Lanka. The bonds were issued in the Reg S/144 format given the significant interest from US investors, which continues to be a key investor base for Sri Lankan issuers, and a market of geographic strength for Citi.”
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.
