OREANDA-NEWS. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) returned to the US dollar bond market with the pricing of a $1.5 billion 10-year global benchmark bond issue, proceeds of which will be part of ADB’s ordinary capital resources.

«This strong outing with broad sponsorship from investors globally, which allowed us to simultaneously tighten the pricing of the transaction relative to the initial guidance and upsize to $1.5 billion, highlights the esteem for ADB’s credit and mission,» said ADB Treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem.

The 10-year bond, with a coupon rate of 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually and a maturity date of 2 November 2027, was priced at 2.595% to yield 19.55 basis points over the 2.25% US Treasury notes due August 2027.

The transaction was lead-managed by Citi, Daiwa Securities, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan. A syndicate group was also formed consisting of DBS, Deutsche Bank, ING, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and RBC.

The issue achieved wide primary market distribution with 56% of the bonds placed in Asia, 33% in the Americas, and 11% in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. By investor type, 56% of the bonds went to central banks and official institutions, 31% to fund managers, 11% to banks, and 2% to other types of investors.