First Gulf Bank Names ANZ, HSBC, Nomura For Debut 5-Yr Kangaroo

Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank , rated A2/A+, has mandated ANZ, HSBC and Nomura for an inaugural Kangaroo bond.

The five-year deal will be only the fourth Kangaroo transaction from a Middle Eastern bank, and comes hot on the heels of a March 12 new issue from National Bank of Abu Dhabi , rated Aa3/AA-/AA-.

NBAD raised A$400 million from a new 4.75 per cent, five-year Kangaroo that priced at 99.375 to yield 4.8925 per cent, 125 basis points over asset swaps.

This followed the issuer’s A$300 million Kangaroo debut on February 28, 2013 with another five-year, priced 175 bps wide of asset swaps.

A banker close to NBAD’s most recent deal said at the time that other Middle East issuers were eyeing the Aussie dollar market to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities.

“In the next few weeks, you may see more regional issuers tap the Aussie dollar market. It is proving to be an attractive proposition because currency movements allow you to achieve a better rate than in U.S. dollars,” he said.

The only previous Kangaroo bond from the Middle East was in November 2006, when Emirates Bank International, rated A/A1/A, issued an A$250 million fixed- and floating-rate three-year Kangaroo.