NOVATEK Closes Debut Eurobond Issue (Russia)

 

OAO NOVATEK announced the closing of its debut Eurobond issue in an aggregate amount of US$ 1.25 billion. The Eurobond was approximately eight times oversubscribed and issued at par in two tranches, a five-year US$ 600 million bond with a coupon rate of 5.326% and a ten-year US$ 650 million bond with a coupon rate of 6.604%. The Eurobond coupons are payable semi-annually.

The initial size of the Eurobond issue was US$ 1 billion however, due to high demand and favorable pricing the Company increased the aggregate amount to US$ 1.25 billion. According to NOVATEK’s CFO Mark Gyetvay, “The success of our debut Eurobond underscores the Company’s strong financial and operational fundamentals as well as the quality of the book building process and is the result of the collective efforts of all parties involved.”

The Joint Lead Managers for the Eurobond issue were BNP Paribas, Citi and the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Co-Managers were Gazprombank, Troika Dialog and UniCredit Bank.

OAO NOVATEK is Russia’s largest independent gas producer and the second-largest natural gas producer in Russia. Founded in 1994, the Company is engaged in the exploration, production, processing and marketing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The Company’s upstream activities are concentrated in the prolific Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, which is the world’s largest natural gas producing area and is believed to account for approximately 83% of Russia’s natural gas production and 16% of the world’s gas production as of 2009.

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Source: NOVATEK , February 4, 2011;