Washington, DC, February 1, 2012 – The World Bank (IBRD, Aaa/AAA) priced today a USD 5 billion global bond. This transaction is the World Bank’s first USD benchmark offering in 2012. The joint lead managers for this global bond are Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, and UBS Investment Bank.
The global bond carries a semi-annual coupon of 0.875% and will mature on April 17, 2017. It was priced with a spread of 19 basis points over the 0.875% U.S. Treasury note due January 31, 2017, which translates to a yield of 0.905%.
“We had been looking forward to resuming our global issuance program after the holiday season, and are delighted to have done so with a bond that commanded such strong attention from our traditional investor base. The warm market reception for this bond highlights the continued strong demand for high quality supranationals as a safe haven asset."said Doris Herrera-Pol, Director and Global Head of Capital Markets at the World Bank.
Investor Distribution:
By Geography
Asia 52%
Europe 26%
Americas 17%
Middle East and Africa 5%
By Investor Type
Central Banks/Official Institutions 68%
Banks/Corporates 18%
Asset Managers 11%
Fund Managers 3%
The present transaction is consistent with the World Bank’s longstanding practice of deploying its franchise as an issuer in the international capital markets to offer investors high-quality, liquid instruments. This approach has direct benefits for World Bank member countries as well, since this cooperative institution is able to fund its activities as a provider of financial services for its members on highly attractive terms.
Transaction Summary:
Issuer: World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD)
Issuer rating: Aaa/AAA
Amount: USD 5 billion
Settlement date: February 9, 2012
Maturity date: April 17, 2017
Issue price: 99.848%
Issue yield: 0.905%
Coupon: 0.875%
Coupon payment dates: April 17 and October 17 (semi-annual, short first)
Denomination: USD 1,000 and internal multiples thereof
Listing: Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Clearing system: Fedwire, Euroclear or Clearstream
Joint lead managers: Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank
Senior co-lead managers: Credit Suisse, First Tennessee, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley
Co-lead managers: BNP Paribas, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Castle Oak, Daiwa, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Nomura, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion
ISIN: US459058CG66
Joint lead manager quotes:
“A great result for the World Bank as the borrower has once again delivered on its investor-driven strategy while setting a new benchmark for pricing in this sector, even with the lower 5-year US Treasury yields, as this is the richest deal printed in this tenor so far this year. With an order book in excess of USD 7 billion and intra-day execution, World Bank's first benchmark of 2012 is testament to not only the issuer's rarity value but also its appeal as a pre-eminent AAA-rated borrower.” said Susan Barron, Director, Frequent Borrower Origination, at Barclays Capital.
"The World Bank has once again delivered an outstanding transaction. We've seen many strong transactions in 2012, but with their first benchmark of the year, the World Bank has re-defined success. To issue USD 5 billion at such a modest spread to the Treasury curve is great testament to the World Bank's status as a risk free alternative to US Treasuries." said Philip Brown, Head of EMEA Fixed Income Public Sector Origination at Citigroup.
"The World Bank has judged the market perfectly by responding to international investor demand for top quality AAA paper in the five-year tenor. The impeccable execution of its joint largest ever five-year global, and the record tight pricing, is a testament to the World Bank's continuing capital market leadership. The breadth and depth of demand, shown in the high quality and geographically diversified book, have contributed to making the World Bank's first benchmark of 2012 a noteworthy success." said Bill Northfield, Managing Director, Head of Sovereign, Supranational & Agency Origination at Deutsche Bank.
“A liquid World Bank benchmark is the ideal security in the current environment. In this transaction, World Bank was able to achieve both the tightest pricing versus US Treasuries and the largest issue size for a supranational issuer this year. To gather an order book of over USD 7 billion in such a short time frame highlights, once again, the deep and loyal investor base World Bank is able to access.” said Guy Reid, Managing Director and Head of Public Sector DCM, EMEA, at UBS Investment Bank.
About the World Bank
The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD), rated Aaa/AAA (Moody’s/S&P), is an international organization created in 1944. It operates as a global development cooperative owned by 187 nations. It provides its members with financing, expertise and coordination services so they can achieve equitable and sustainable economic growth in their national economies and find effective solutions to pressing regional and global economic and environmental problems. The overriding goal is to achieve major, sustainable improvements in standards of living worldwide. It has been issuing bonds in the international capital markets for over 60 years to fund its activities. Information for investors is available on the World Bank Treasury website: (www.worldbank.org/debtsecurities).
