African Development Bank (“AfDB”) priced its first public USD benchmark of 2011

African Development Bank (“AfDB”) priced its first public USD benchmark of 2011 on Thursday, February 17th. The issue has a final maturity of 15th March 2016, pays a semi-annual coupon of 2.5% and has an issue price of 99.843% to give a spread of + 26.6 basis points over the UST 2% due Jan 2016, equivalent to 4 basis points over mid-swaps.

Following the mandate announcement late (London time) on Wednesday evening, indications of interest poured in rapidly. The books were opened at 8.00am London time on Thursday with an initial guidance of mid-swaps plus 4 basis points “area”. Driven by large demand from Asia and Europe, books were already approaching USD 1 billion when US markets opened.

The final book closed at 4.00pm London time, comprising over 35 orders. The transaction size was capped from the outset at USD 1 billion and was priced in line with an initial guidance of midswaps plus 4 basis points. The orderbook was dominated by high quality accounts, with around 35 investors participating in the transaction, demonstrating the breadth of AfDB’s investor reach. Central Banks and Official Institutions demand was strong and accounted for the largest share (50%). All major regions were well represented in the book with Americas accounting for 37%, Middle-East and Africa 28%, Europe 24% and Asia 11%.