KIPCO – the Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – has announced that it has successfully completed the issuance of a KD 100 million (US$ 331 million) bond issue. This the first ever seven-year corporate dinar bond issue in Kuwait, and was 1.45 times oversubscribed.

The bonds were issued in fixed and floating rate tranches. At close, the fixed rate bond attracted 36% of the transaction allocation and the floating rate bond 64%. The fixed rate bond pays investors a coupon of 5.25% annually, while the floating rate bond pays investors a coupon of 2.25% annually over the declared Central Bank of Kuwait discount rate, with a cap of 1% over the fixed-rate coupon. The bonds were issued at par and will pay coupons semi-annually in arrears.

The joint lead managers on the transaction were Gulf Bank, KAMCO Investment Company and NBK Capital.

The bond issue is a continuation of KIPCO’s strategy of regularly raising money in the debt markets to diversify its investor base and provide financial flexibility to the company. KIPCO is a long-term investor in its businesses and seeks to match this investment strategy with long-term funding.

KIPCO has been proactively extending its debt maturity profile, and has no debt repayments due till mid-2019.

Commenting on the transaction, KIPCO’s Vice Chairman (Executive), Mr Faisal Al Ayyar, said:

“This latest issue, Kuwait’s first ever seven-year corporate dinar bond, is a testament to our continued commitment to contribute to the Kuwait Capital Market. In the past, Kuwaiti dinar bonds have typically been issued for shorter tenures. We are proud to lead the way in offering longer-term investment opportunities.”

He added:

“By issuing these dinar bonds, we have reduced our debt maturity concentration by converting our debt from short-term into longer-term. The funds raised by the bonds will be used to repay existing obligations, stagger our maturities and diversify our investor base.”

“We would like to thank the Kuwait Capital Markets Authority, our investors and our joint lead managers – Gulf Bank, KAMCO Investment Company and NBK Capital – for their assistance and support.”