Cyprus has formally issued a €750 million 5-year bond, with the new transaction set to price at a yield of 4.85%, considerably tighter than initial price thoughts of 5%.
Despite the initial intention of issuing a €500 million bond, the issue was oversubscribed by four times, garnering offers of up to €2 billion.
Now, attention is turning to the investor make-up of the island’s first bond issue since it was excluded from international markets in May 2011.
The analytical report issued by the Ministry of Finance explains that over 150 investors took part in the official call, which commenced on Wednesday June 18.
Geographically, investors represented a diverse range of locations. The statistical breakdown has been described thus: Cyprus, 14.5%; Europe (excluding the UK), 23%, UK, 45%, Germany/Switzerland, 11%; Italy, 3%; America, 7%; and Asia, 2%.
Moreover, the Finance Ministry has credited some 51% of the newly invested capital as having come from asset management firms, 27% from hedge funds, and 22% from banks.
Cyprus has been rated Caa3/B/B- by Moody's/S&P/Fitch (positive/positive/stable), and Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, UBS Investment Bank and VTB Capital have been designated the responsibility of arranging the sale.
