Emirates NBD “ENBD”, rated Baa1/A+ (Moody’s/Fitch), has raised AUD400mn (USD370mn) from its inaugural issue of Kangaroo bonds. The 5.75% five-year medium term note (MTN), which was increased in size from an indicative minimum of AUD200mn, priced at par for a spread of 241.5bps over the 5.25% March 2019 Australian Commonwealth Government bonds. The transaction is being arranged by ANZ, BNP Paribas and HSBC as well as ENBD's own investment banking arm. ENBD joins other banks from the UAE that have issued bonds denominated in Australian dollars in recent weeks - National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD.ADX) and First Gulf Bank (FGB.ADX) issued five-year deals worth AUD400mn and AUD250mn respectively in March, according to Bloomberg.
Mubasher Trade and Research stated that it is a positive step for ENBD as the bank is eyeing the Aussie dollar market to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities because currency movements will let the bank achieve a better rate than in USD.