PRESS RELEASE – 2nd September 2020
The Hellenic Republic
(Moody’s B1 Stable, S&P BB- Stable, Fitch BB Stable, DBRS BB (low) Stable)
€2.5 billion re-opening of GGB 1.500% due 18th June 2030
Summary Terms
Format: State Obligation (in dematerialised book entry form), RegS Cat 1, 144A eligible, CACs
Re-opening Size: €2.5 billion, taking the total outstanding to €5.5 billion
Pricing Date: 2nd September 2020
Settlement: 9th September 2020
Maturity: 18th June 2030
Coupon: 1.50% Fixed, Annual ACT/ACT, 83 days accrued
Re-offer Spread: €MS+140 bps
Re-offer Yield: 1.187%
Re-offer Price: 102.870%
Listing: Athens, regulated market
Denominations: €1,000 x €1,000
Lead Managers: Barclays, Citi, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Société Générale
Transaction Highlights
- On Wednesday 2nd September, the Hellenic Republic, rated B1 Moody’s/ BB- S&P/ BB Fitch/ BB (low) DBRS (stb/ stb/ stb/ stb), priced a €2.5bn tap of its outstanding June 2030 Government Bond (GGB). The tap was priced at a re-offer yield of 1.187%, equating to a re-offer price of 102.870%. Joint bookrunners on the transaction were Barclays, Citi, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Société Générale.
- This transaction is the fourth syndicated transaction of the Hellenic Republic in 2020, following the successful 15-year issuance in January, 7-year issuance in April and 10-year issuance in June.
- At a re-offer yield of 1.187%, this syndication marks the lowest yield ever achieved by the Hellenic Republic on any bond transaction, including both syndications and auctions.
- The offering attracted an orderbook in excess of €18.0bn, implying a 7.6x oversubscription.
Execution Summary
- Following the successful 10yr syndication in June and subsequent strong performance in the secondary market, the Hellenic Republic announced its intention to tap its GGB 1.500% due June 30 GGB on Tuesday, 1st September at 13.00 UKT.
- The initial market reaction to the announcement was positive, and guidance of €MS+150 bps area was released to the market on Wednesday, 2nd September at 08.30 UKT.
- Strong interest in the transaction was clear from the outset and by 10:00 UKT books were in excess of €12.5bn (including €1.02bn joint-lead manager interest). At this time, leads revised price guidance to €MS+145 bps area.
- Despite the price revision, the orderbook continued to grow as several new accounts came in and existing accounts upsized their orders. By 11:15 UKT, the orderbook was in excess of €16.0bn. At this time, with limited price sensitivity in the orderbook, the leads set the spread at €MS+140 bps.
- Books were closed at 12.00 UKT in excess of €18.0bn (including €1.02bn joint-lead manager interest). At 13:15 UKT, the size was set at €2.5bn.
- Over 300 individual accounts participated in the transaction. As in the Republic’s previous benchmarks, real money investors accounted for the lion’s share led by Fund Managers, Bank Treasuries and Insurance / Pension Funds.
- By geography, the transaction was supported throughout Europe, by accounts in the UK, France, Italy, Nordics, Germany / Austria and Greece in particular.
Distribution Statistics
