Russian private bank to start Eurobond road-show in Hong Kong

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian Standard Bank, a leading privately-held bank in Russia plans to start a Eurobond road-show in Hong Kong on June 28, a banking source told Prime news agency on Monday, June 25.

The bank, controlled by businessman Rustam Tariko, has mandated Citi and JP Morgan to arrange investor meetings and manage the Eurobond issue.

“The [Eurobond] volume and the terms of the issue will depend on investors’ interest and the market situation,” the source said.

Russian Standard accessed the bond market in March, placing $130 million worth of twelve-month Euro Commercial Papers (ECP) at 5.5 percent per annum. The yields stayed within the issuer’s declared range.

The Greek parliamentary elections held on June 17 have opened a window of opportunity for Russia issuers to raise funds on global markets. State-owned Russian Agricultural Bank, a key lender for the country’s agribusiness, was the first to capitalize on this opportunity last week as it sold $500 million worth of Eurobonds with a 5.5-year maturity with yields set at mid-swaps plus 425 basis points.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest retail savings bank raised $1 billion last week through a seven-year Eurobond offering at 5.18 percent per annum.

Experts polled by Prime said the window of opportunity on external capital markets would be open for Russian issuers until the end of June and major domestic companies would attempt to sell their bonds over this period, RIA Novosti reported.