NBAD received US$3.1bn of bids in bond sale

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s second-biggest bank by assets, received US$3.1bn in bids for the US$750m bonds it sold yesterday, according to two bankers familiar with the deal. A total of 195 investors bid for the five-year notes and 47 percent of the buyers were from the Middle East, 33 percent from Europe, 16 percent from Asia and 4 percent from the US offshore, the bankers said, declining to be identified because the information is private. Commercial banks bought 28 percent of the bonds, private banks another 28 percent, mutual funds 20 percent, central banks and sovereign funds 10 percent, insurance and pension funds 6 percent and others 8 percent, they said. National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s bonds pay a coupon of 3.25 percent and were sold at a spread of 190 basis points over the benchmark midswap rate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, UBS AG and National Bank of Abu Dhabi managed the sale.