Size of Turkish bond issuance reaches record high

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's U.S. dollar-denominated bond issuance has reached a record international demand of $4 billion, the Treasury and Finance Ministry said on Friday.

"The issue has been the first dual-tranche deal from Republic of Turkey in international capital markets since 2007," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has authorized Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Societe Generale to issue the bond due in 2025 and 2030.

"The transaction was finalized with a nominal amount of $4 billion," it said, adding that the proceeds of the issuance would be transferred to the treasury on Feb. 13, 2020.

International demand -- over 200 investors -- for a new Turkish bond issue more than tripled its actual size, it noted.

While the five-year bond has a coupon rate of 4.25%, and its yield rate for investors is 4.45%, the 10-year bond's coupon rate was 5.25% with a yield rate of 5.45%.

The largest national share of the bonds, 51%, was sold to investors from the U.K., the U.S. with 18%, other European countries with 14%, Turkey with 10% and other regions with 7%.

"With this transaction, the amount of funds raised from international capital markets in 2020 stands at $4 billion, the ministry added.