Egypt to issue next Eurobonds on Luxembourg stock exchange in April

CAIRO – 27 March 2018: The Finance Ministry will issue its anticipated euro denominated Eurobonds on the Luxembourg stock exchange in three weeks.

Official sources told Al-Borsa newspaper that the overdraft of the issuance will be finalized by the end of the week and it would include disclosures on Egypt’s commitments, including the country’s foreign debt.

This came as a response to the requests of the investment banks during the latest Eurobond issuance.

The sources added that the roadshow will start few days before the issuance to agree on the pricing and the value of the issuance in light of meetings with investors.

They further said that defining the price hinges on a number of important factors, such as political events in Europe and the U.S. and their effect on stock market’s transactions.

The value of the issue is expected to be €1-1.5 billion, but the sources said that the value could exceed €2 billion, a decision that would be taken during the roadshow.

Egypt has chosen four international investment banks to manage its upcoming euro denominated Eurobonds, namely Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas Bank, Bank of Alexandria "São Paulo" and Standard Chartered Bank.

The issuance will be second in 2018. Egypt returned to the international bond markets on February 14 with issuing Eurobonds worth $4 billion on three tranches; three, five and 30 years.

The purchase requests exceeded $12 billion in the first few hours after the issuance despite the then volatility of the international stock markets, according to the Finance Ministry.

Egypt’s foreign reserves reached unprecedented levels of $42.5 billion in February after the recent Eurobond sale, while the country’s foreign debt increased 34.4 percent to stand at $80.8 billion in September 2017.

Egypt issued $7 billion in Eurobonds' sales in January and May 2017 on the global bond market, both of which were oversubscribed, according to the Ministry of Finance.