Record-high demand as KBN issues USD benchmark
On Thursday 3rd September, Kommunalbanken (“KBN”), successfully issued a new USD 1.5 billion 5-year benchmark. The issuance represents KBN’s third USD benchmark of the year following two successful outings in 5 and 10-years in 2020.
On the back of a constructive market backdrop with respect to investor demand and high issuance volumes across the board, KBN decided to access the market in the first week of September. The transaction immediately gained momentum amongst the stable rates and spreads backdrop with the order book growing fast and benefitting from very high-quality orders from Official Institutions and Central Banks into the London close.
“Another well executed USD benchmark for KBN completing a trio of highly successful USD trades this year, confirming the broad global investor recognition and appetite for Kommunalbanken Norway. We were delighted with the international investor response, attracting the largest Nordic agency/supra USD orderbook ever", said Head of Funding and IR at KBN, Thomas Møller.
The final order book was in excess of USD 3.6 billion from over 80 investors. Central Banks and Official Institutions across the globe represented the bulk of the demand, receiving 65% of the final allocations, followed by Banks/Bank Treasuries (24%), Asset Managers (7%) and Corporates/Other (4%). Regional distribution was skewed towards EMEA (42%) and the Americas (37%), while Asian investors accounted for 21% of the final allocation.
The quality and granularity of the orderbook testifies once again the strength of the KBN signature across the international investor community.
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Issuer: |
Kommunalbanken AS (KBN) |
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Rating: |
Aaa / AAA |
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Size: |
USD 1.5 billion |
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Pricing Date: |
3 September 2020 |
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Settlement Date: |
11 September 2020 |
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Maturity: |
11 September 2025 |
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Coupon: |
0.375% |
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Re-offer spread to mid-swaps: |
+15 bps |
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Re-offer spread to Treasuries: |
UST 0.250% Aug-25 + 22.0 bps |
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Re-offer price: |
99.585% |
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Re-offer yield: |
0.459% (s.a.) |
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Lead Managers: |
Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Scotiabank, TD |
Dealer Quotes
“Amid competing supply, KBN drew remarkable headlines today starting with one of their strongest ever IOIs numbers followed by an excellent final book size. All-in-all, this transaction was a great success for the KBN team and again shows their nimble sense for good judgement and market understanding. The timing was superb and the total outcome clearly confirms this.” - Jonas Juel Ulrich, Director, SSA Origination, Deutsche Bank
"KBN delivers a double hat-trick pricing its fourth USD 5-year benchmark in a row at MS+15bps reoffer spread, this time garnering its largest-ever USD orderbook to-date at USD 3.6bn+. We are delighted to have been involved; congratulations to the KBN team on this exceptional result!" - Matthieu Batard, Head of SSA Syndicate, J.P. Morgan
“We are proud to support KBN on this standout USD Benchmark transaction, which is a testament to KBN’s best-in-class market read. A textbook execution, with a USD 3.6bn+ orderbook, represents a record for the Nordic agency space. Congratulations to the KBN team on another successful outing!” - Cesare Roselli, Global Head of SSA Origination, Scotiabank
"What a truly fantastic result today for KBN who have shown their prowess in the USD market with this trade. The decision to take this window resulted in KBN's largest USD orderbook to date despite tightening 3bps during execution. In addition, the high quality of the final book is a testament to KBN's global investor distribution. Congratulations once again to the KBN team." - Laura Quinn, Managing Director, Head of Origination, TD Securities
