The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral development financial institution, successfully raised USD250 million through the reopening of existing bonds. Sold at 90 basis points over mid-swaps — the lowest ever for an APICORP bond issuance — the transaction is a retap of a benchmark USD750 million dollar-denominated five-year bond issuance in the RegS markets in June 2020, and is part of APICORP’s USD3 billion Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) program.
The retap attracted robust and diverse investor demand, with more than 40% of investors coming from outside of the MENA region and about 56% from central banks and other sovereigns, supranationals and agencies (SSA) investors. Notably, APICORP is currently one of the few financial institutions in the world rated ‘AA’ by Fitch and ‘Aa2’ by Moody’s, both with a stable outlook.
Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, APICORP’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased to raise an additional USD250 million through this retap as it will further bolster APICORP’s financial position to continue delivering its countercyclical role to Member Countries and supporting the sustainable development of the MENA region’s energy sector. Achieving our pricing objectives in such challenging and volatile market conditions speaks to the depth of our relationship with an increasingly diversified international investor base, as well as the strong confidence that the investor community has in our organization as a multilateral development financial institution.”
Dr. Sherif Elsayed Ayoub, Chief Financial Officer of APICORP, said: “This tap tranche expands our outstanding June benchmark issuance to USD1 billion thereby allowing for greater liquidity in our paper in the financial markets, particularly by way of attracting large SSA investors. We are thankful for the continued support from our investors from across the globe for this deal. Indeed, APICORP’s successful execution of its funding strategy is putting it in a better position to meet the expectations of its Member Countries and diverse stakeholders.”
Earlier this year, APICORP launched a USD500 million countercyclical package aimed at supporting the MENA energy sector to mitigate the impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as oil price fluctuations.
APICORP mandated China Construction Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Emirates NBD Capital, Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners on the retap transaction.
