National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' second largest lender by assets, said on Friday it had sold $850 million five-year bonds, the first dollar international benchmark sale by a Gulf lender since 2007. The bond was priced at 99.717 with a 4.5 percent semi-annual fixed coupon to yield 228 basis points over US treasuries, the bank said in a statement. The order book was oversubscribed 4.8 times with 284 orders and investor distribution was diversified with 71 percent of the paper placed outside the Middle East and North Africa region. “The success of our transaction confirms that financial institutions with an excellent business model, a clear strategy and a solid franchise from our region do have access to the international capital markets,” said Michael Tomalin, bank CEO. The bond sale, part of the bank's recently updated $5 billion EMTN program, was lead managed jointly by Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and the Royal Bank of Scotland. NBAD is owned 70 percent by the government of Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the UAE. The UAE's Federal National Council approved a law in June to temporarily allow bond guarantees by the government.
