Egypt to meet investors this week ahead of euro-denominated bond

04/04/2018 06:20 AST

Egypt will start meeting bond investors in Europe this week ahead of a potential euro-denominated bond issue, a document from one of the banks appointed to arrange the meetings showed on Tuesday.

It has mandated Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as joint bookrunners. Investor meetings will start on April 4 ahead of a potential benchmark-sized bond, which normally means upwards of $500 million (Dh1.84 billion).

Subject to market conditions, the country will proceed with the planned debt sale after the meetings, offering notes with maturities of eight and/or 12 years, according to the document.

Egypt has already raised $4 billion through a triple-tranche bond in February. Last year, it issued $7 billion in international bonds, through a $4 billion trade in January, and a re-opening of the same bond in May. BNP Paribas, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Natixis arranged the issues.

Egypt’s economy has been struggling since a 2011 uprising drove tourists and foreign investors away, but it has recovered over the past year, after signing a $12 billion International Monetary Fund deal in late 2016 to boost growth.

In a recent poll by Reuters, Middle East fund managers said they were bullish on Egypt because of an improving macroeconomic outlook, with the country ramping up natural gas production, and political stability. President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi won a second term in national elections, official results showed on Monday.

Gulf News