The pricing of the World Bank's new global bond offering, a $1.5 billion 5-year issue launched yesterday simultaneously in the Euromarkets and in the U.S. and the Japanese domestic markets, was announced this morning by Donald C. Roth, World Bank Vice President & Treasurer. The bonds have a 7.25 percent coupon, payable semiannually, and were offered at 99.897 percent, to yield 7.275 percent, providing a spread of 20 basis points over the 5-year Treasury benchmark. The bonds were sold to investors in Europe, North America and Asia.
“We were gratified to see exceedingly strong demand from Asia, Europe and North America, including demand reflected through regional dealers in the U.S.," Roth said. "We couldn't be more pleased with our joint lead managers, our management group, and the success of this issue."
The bonds were offered by an international syndicate consisting of: CS First Boston and Goldman, Sachs & Co., serving as joint book running lead managers, and Daiwa Securities, Deutsche Bank Capital Market Limited, IBJ International Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities, Lehman Brothers, The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Limited, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley & Co., Incorporated, and Yamaichi Securities. All of them expect to be involved in the aftermarket trading of the issue.
