Dubai dollar issue to mark debt market return

Dubai, buoyed by tightening spreads and an oversubscribed bond last week from its flagship airline, plans to come back to the debt market itself with a potential benchmark sovereign dollar issue. Dubai's Department of Finance said yesterday it intends to issue a dollar bond under its $4 billion (Dh14.6 billion) medium-term notes programme, which was established in 2008. Dubai mandated UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Emirates NBD for the bond, which will be used for general budgetary purposes, according to lead managers. Benchmark bond sales are typically at least $500 million. Private meetings with investors in London are planned for next week, a banking source said. The emirate last came to the bond market in September when it issued a dual-tranche $1.25 billion bond. That issue was four times oversubscribed and reflected increased global investor demand for higher yields. Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates priced a $1 billion bond last week at the tighter end of guidance with an estimated order book of over $5 billion. "The Emirates bond last week and the reception it received paves the way nicely for an issue from the sovereign," said Chavan Bhogaita, head of markets strategy department at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. "It showed there is appetite out there for Dubai. If you combine this with tighter spreads currently, timing-wise the issue of a sovereign bond makes a lot of sense and will likely see good demand." Appetite for Dubai debt has been rising in recent months, with the emirate seen as a safe haven amid the political instability engulfing the wider region. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are the only two states in the Arab region that have not been affected by the waves of protests inspired by uprisings that toppled Egypt's and Tunisia's leaders. From / Gulf News