Dubai's Emirates NBD Plans Benchmark Bond Sale - Source

By Nikhil Lohade

DUBAI--Emirates NBD (EMIRATES.DFM), Dubai's biggest lender, plans to meet fixed-income investors in the Middle East, Asia and Europe starting this week and may issue a benchmark-sized, U.S. dollar bond, after gauging demand, according to an arranging bank.

Emirates NBD is likely to sell a perpetual Tier 1 bond, subject to market conditions, the arranging bank told its clients in an email viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Perpetual bonds have no maturity date, while benchmark size is usually around $500 million.

The bond sale will help boost the core capital of Emirates NBD, which has a big exposure to debt-laden Dubai--also its single largest shareholder.

The bank has been one of the main beneficiaries of a strong rebound in the emirate's economy since the global financial crisis. However, it warned potential investors in its bond prospectus that "concentrations" in its loan/financing receivable and deposit portfolio leave it exposed to default risks from its larger borrowers.

Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Bank have been mandated by the Dubai lender as joint global coordinators, while Citigroup, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Bank will act as joint lead managers to arrange the investor meetings, starting Sept. 4.

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