The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral lender, raised $750 million (Dh2.75 billion) through the issuance of a five-year bond at record low rates.
The bonds were issued under Apicorp's $3bn Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) programme and will be used to allow the lender to take a "countercyclical role in 2020", allowing it to support the Mena region's energy sector at a time when it has been hit by falling demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil prices.
“The issuance attracted robust and diverse investor demand, with more than $1.1bn in orders for the debt sale from over 40 investors," the Dammam-based lender said in a statement, adding that investors came both from within and outside the Mena region.
The five-year note gives the lender a fixed cost of funding of 1.46 per cent, the lowest it has ever achieved.
"Moreover, the spread of 110bps is the lowest in the region compared to the sovereign, semi-sovereign and MDB [multilateral development bank] peers' US dollar issuances that came to the market since the Covid-19 outbreak," it added.
Apicorp is owned by the 10 members of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Libya, Iraq, Qatar, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt and Syria. It was set up in 1975 to extend financial support to Arab countries in the energy sector."Despite challenging market conditions, the successful issuance of this benchmark US dollar bond, with this level of competitive pricing, reflects the confidence that global investors have in Apicorp," Dr Ahmed Ali Attiga, chief executive of Apicorp, said. "More than 50 per cent of the investors for this issuance are central banks and official institutions, both from within and outside the region."
In April, it rolled out a $500m support package to help clients in the energy sector continue funding projects in the wake of the pandemic, as both prices and demand for oil fell.
The funds would be deployed to support sustainable, impact-driven utilities, renewables and petrochemicals projects, Apicorp said at that time.
The lender also increased its callable capital to $8.5bn from $1bn to boost investments in the energy sector and increased its authorised capital to $20bn, from $2.4bn previously. Its subscribed capital increased to $10bn, up from $2bn. Callable capital is the amount the lender can call from shareholders, but which has not yet been paid.
Apicorp was advised on the bond issue by Citibank, Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered.
The bond market in the GCC is expected to remain resilient despite the coronavirus pandemic, with issuance from the region likely to top $100bn this year, according to a report in April from Franklin Templeton.
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
You might also like to read
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
