Washington, DC, September 20, 2001 – The World Bank priced a $3 billion 5-year global bond today. The transaction was joint lead-managed by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Salomon Smith Barney. The co-managers were: Daiwa, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Securities, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Nomura International, Royal Bank of Canada, Sanwa, and UBS Warburg.
The global bonds settle on September 28, 2001 and were priced at a yield spread of 63 basis points over the 4.625% US Treasury due May 2006. The World Bank global bonds offer investors a semi-annual interest coupon of 4.375% and mature on September 28, 2006. Listing is in Luxembourg.
The issue was oversubscribed and driven by investors seeking liquid fixed income securities of the highest credit quality. About 50% of the issue was placed with accounts in Asia, 35% in Europe and 15% in America. The distribution among investor types was as follows: 40% went to central banks and government entities, 19% to banks, 15% to fund managers, 15% to pension funds, and 11% went to insurance companies, retail and corporate accounts.
