IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issued its first Kazakh tenge bond in the domestic markets, raising KZT 8.6 billion—$25 million equivalent— to create access to local-currency finance help develop local capital markets in Kazakhstan.
IFC will invest the bond proceeds in KazFoodProducts, a leading Kazakh food processing group of companies operating in grain milling and confectionary sectors, to support the company’s expansion plans and boost Kazakhstan’s agricultural sector.
The bond was more than 2 times oversubscribed and over 75% was allocated to private sector investors. The transaction is the result of a collaboration between IFC, local government, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, and market participants. Tengri Capital MB and Centras Securities acted as the bond’s lead and co-lead arrangers respectively. The notes will be listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.
Alina Aldambergen, Chairman of Management Board of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, said: “The IFC bond makes an important contribution to the development of local capital markets, attracting multiple private-sector investors. We hope that other international and domestic issuers will follow IFC and connect savings to Kazakhstan’s private sector investment needs.”
“The issuance of IFC’s tenge-denominated bond is in line with IFC’s strategy to source long-term funding and create access to local currency finance for private sector expansion, helping to boost economic growth and create jobs,” said Cassandra Colbert, IFC Regional Manager for Central Asia.
IFC issues local currency-denominated bonds in emerging market currencies as part of its regular program of raising funds for private sector development, and to support the development of domestic capital markets. IFC bonds are rated triple-A by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.
Original source: IFC
Published on 2 August 2018
