PRESS RELEASE – 9th June 2020

The Hellenic Republic

(Moody’s B1 Stable, S&P BB- Stable, Fitch BB Stable, DBRS BBL Stable)

EUR 3bn GGB 1.500% due 18th June 2030

 

Summary Terms

 

Format:                                    Reg S Category 1, 144a eligible, CACs

Size:                                        EUR 3bn

Pricing Date:                             9th June 2020

Settlement:                              18th June 2020 (T+7)

Maturity:                                  18th June 2030

Coupon:                                   1.500%, Fixed, Annual ACT/ACT

Re-offer Spread:                       MS + 160bps / DBR+187.8bps (ref spot 103.056)

Re-offer Yield:                          1.568%

Re-offer Price:                          99.375%

Listing:                                    Athens, regulated market

Denominations:                        EUR €1,000 x €1,000

Bookrunners:                           BNPP / BofA / DB / GSIB / HSBC / JPM

 

Transaction Highlights

  • On Tuesday, 9th June, the Hellenic Republic, rated B1 / BB- / BB / BBL (stb/stb/stb/stb) by Moody’s / S&P / Fitch / DBRS, priced a €3bn 10-year Government Bond (GGB) due 18th June 2030. The new benchmark carries a coupon of 1.500%, re-offer yield of 1.568%, implying re-offer price of 99.375%. BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Intl, HSBC and J.P. Morgan acted as Joint Bookrunners on the deal.
  • The new 2030 GGB issued by the Hellenic Republic marks the lowest coupon ever achieved by the sovereign for its internationally placed EUR-denominated bonds. Persistent normalization of Greek Government bonds secondary levels after the spike of Covid-19 allowed to price the deal at one of the lowest all-in yields for the Republic.
  • The offering comes amid increased funding needs for the Hellenic Republic to combat Covid-19 impact, in line with governments across the globe. The Government has announced a fiscal package of measures totalling approximately 14% of GDP (€24bn), including loan guarantees, financed from national and EU resources[1].
  • It is the third market exercise by the Hellenic Republic in 2020 after €2bn 7yr priced at MS+220bps on 15th April and €2.5bn 15yr notes from 28th January with the re-offer spread of MS+165bps. Thus far, the Republic’s year-to-date international capital markets borrowing has reached €7.5bn.
  • The offering managed to attract an orderbook of €17bn at peak, implying 5.6x oversubscription, which compares to €6bn (3.0x oversubscription) of collected demand on the last deal from 15th

 

Execution Summary

  • Supported by a positive market momentum generated in the preceding days / weeks, with the ECB raising its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme size by another €600bn on Thursday, 4th June and, as a result, the continued rally across the assets spectrum, the Public Debt Management Agency of the Hellenic Republic decided to proceed with a 1.5-day execution. On the back of a strong opening on Monday, 8th June, the Republic announced its 10yr EUR benchmark mandate.
  • Essential feedback collected on Monday allowed to release IPTs of MS+170/175bps at around 08:30 UKT / 10:30 EEST on Tuesday for a new bond maturing in June 2030. Benchmark size was indicated at the inception of the bookbuild.
  • Despite a busy primary market session with Ireland, Spain, the UK, Albania being out with their EUR-denominated deals on the day and Germany, Finland and Croatia announcing their upcoming mandates, high-quality orders flowing into the book allowed to reach orders worth in excess of €15bn by the time when guidance was released at 11:20 UKT / 13:20 EEST. Given solid size and quality of the generated demand, the Republic was able to tighten the pricing by 10bps to MS+160/165bps (WPIR).
  • The book carried to expand afterwards with €17bn of tabled demand at 12:30 UKT / 14:30 EEST when the spread was set at the tighter end of the range at MS+160bps. Final terms for the deal were released an hour later, posting €15.75bn final orderbook size.
  • Following this solid bookbuilding throughout the day, the Hellenic Republic managed to tighten pricing by 10-15bps from the IPTs stage, while seizing €3bn for its largest deal since 2018.
  • The offering attracted a diverse orderbook amounting to over €15.7bn (including €520mn JLM interest) from 215+ single accounts involved in the transaction. Final investor composition proved to be versatile, with the UK partaking the largest chunk of demand, followed by Continental Europe accounts, who constituted 57% of the final allocated book. Domestic accounts supported the transaction securing 15%. Real Money investors grasped >85%, implying high quality of the investor split.

 

Final Distribution

 

   By Investor Country                                                                By Investor Profile 

 

 

[1] IMF Policy Tracker - https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19#G

 

DISCLAIMER 

This document has been prepared by the Joint Lead Managers for information purposes only. This document is an indicative summary of the terms and conditions of the transaction described herein and may be amended, superseded or replaced by subsequent summaries. The final terms and conditions of the transaction and any related security will be set out in full in the applicable offering document(s), pricing supplement or binding transaction document(s). 

This document shall not constitute an underwriting commitment, an offer of financing, an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities described herein, which shall be subject to the Joint Lead Managers’ internal approvals and satisfaction of all appropriate conditions precedent. No transaction or service related thereto is contemplated without the Joint Lead Managers' subsequent formal agreement.

The Joint Lead Managers are not responsible for providing or arranging for the provision of any general financial, strategic or specialist advice, including legal, regulatory, accounting, model auditing or taxation advice or services or any other services in relation to the transaction and/or any related securities described herein. The Joint Lead Managers are acting solely in the capacity of arms’ length contractual counterparty and not as adviser, agent or fiduciary to any person. The Joint Lead Managers accept no liability whatsoever to the fullest extent permitted by law for any consequential losses arising from the use of this document or reliance on the information contained herein. 

The Joint Lead Managers do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information which is contained in this document and which is stated to have been obtained from or is based upon trade and statistical services or other third party sources. Any data on past performance, modelling, scenario analysis or back-testing contained herein is no indication as to future performance. No representation is made as to the reasonableness of the assumptions made within or the accuracy or completeness of any modelling, scenario analysis or back-testing. All opinions and estimates are given as of the date hereof and are subject to change. The value of any investment may fluctuate as a result of market changes. The information in this document is not intended to predict actual results and no assurances are given with respect thereto. 

The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons, as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act. This document is not intended for distribution to and must not be passed on to any retail client. 

NO ACTION HAS BEEN MADE OR WILL BE TAKEN THAT WOULD PERMIT A PUBLIC OFFERING OF ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH ACTION FOR THAT PURPOSE IS REQUIRED. NO OFFERS, SALES, RESALES OR DELIVERY OF ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN OR DISTRIBUTION OF ANY OFFERING MATERIAL RELATING TO ANY SUCH SECURITIES MAY BE MADE IN OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION EXCEPT IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH WILL RESULT IN COMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS AND WHICH WILL NOT IMPOSE ANY OBLIGATION ON THE JOINT LEAD MANAGERS OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES. 

The Joint Lead Managers, their affiliates and the individuals associated therewith may (in various capacities) have positions or deal in transactions or securities (or related derivatives) identical or similar to those described herein. 

This document is confidential, and no part of it may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted without the prior  written permission of the Joint Lead Managers. 

THESE MATERIALS ARE NOT AN OFFER FOR SALE OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. SECURITIES MAY NOT BE SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED. THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC DOES NOT INTEND TO REGISTER ANY PORTION OF THE SECURITIES OFFERING IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO CONDUCT A PUBLIC OFFERING OF SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.