Afreximbank closes historic US$1.3 billion bond

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on 10 May 2021 successfully closed a US$1.3 billion dual tenor bond issuance, the Bank’s largest-ever transaction in the international debt capital markets.
Afreximbank printed a US$600 million 5-year note at a spread of T+185bps and a US$700 million 10-year note at a spread of T+220bps, after achieving a final order book of US$4.5 billion.
The Initial Pricing Thoughts (IPTS) were announced at T+220bps area and T+250bps area for the 5-year and 10-year tranches, respectively. Backed by strong demand, the combined books peaked at US$5 billion, with a slight skew towards the 5-year tranche, seeing pricing set at T+185 bps to a re-offer yield of 2.634% and T+220bps to a re-offer yield of 3.798%, respectively. The 10-year tranche was finally priced at only a 5bps New Issue Premium (NIP), while the 5 year was priced flat to fair value.