UAE - Mubasher: Emirates Development Bank (EDB), wholly owned by the UAE federal government, has successfully closed its $750 million five-year bond issuance.

The issuance, priced at a fixed re-offer yield of 1.639% per annum in the Regulation S markets, was the second US dollar transaction issued under EDB’s $3 billion euro medium-term note (EMTN) programme, according to a recent press release.

In 2019, the bank sold $750 million bonds which were 4.7 times oversubscribed from investors.

The programme is part of the bank’s objective to enhance its accessibility to capital markets and strengthen its funding profile.

Oversubscribed four times, the transaction has attracted many investors from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the US, leading to the order book amounting to over $3 billion.

The Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of EDB, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, said: "EDB was the first UAE federal entity to access the global capital markets under the federal debt framework when it issued its first bond in 2019."

The CEO of EDB, Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, commented: "The $750 million bond issue is an endorsement of EDB’s long-term prospects and reflects our strong credit profile and new strategic roadmap."

It is noteworthy to mention that on Tuesday, 8 June, EDB had set an initial price outlook of between 105 and 110 basis points over mid-swaps for US dollar-denominated bonds, Reuters reported.