On December 15, 2020, the Russian Highways State Company successfully placed its BO 003R 01 series exchange-traded bonds on the Moscow Exchange with a total nominal value of RUB 14,000,000,000.
The order book for bonds issue was closed on December 8, 2020. During the book-building process, the increased investor demand for bonds made it possible to lower the initial level of coupon rates from 6.75-6.90% to 6.70-6.80%, and then narrow it down to 6.70-6.75%. As a result, the book-building was finally closed with a 1.5-fold oversubscription at 6.75% p.a. coupon rate, which is the lowest ever rate in the entire State Company's history of placements of exchange-traded bonds.
The order book comprised of about 50 orders submitted by a wide range of investors. Various stakeholders, banks, international financial institutions, asset managers, insurance and investment companies, as well as individuals were engaged in the trading.
The exchange-traded bonds come with a tenor of 5 years. A provision has been made for bond amortization: 3.5% of the par value on the dates of the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th coupon payment and 86% of the par value on the date of the 20th coupon payment.
"This was a landmark transaction for the State Company. We managed to achieve both historically lowest coupon rates and historically longest tenor among the company's bonds ever placed on the exchange market. The successful issue of bonds has once again confirmed investor confidence in the State Company as a highly reliable issuer in the Russian debt market," said Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of the Board of the State Company Avtodor.
ExpertRa credit rating agency assigned ruAA+ credit rating to the new issue bonds.
The bonds are included in the second level of the list of securities admitted to trading on the Moscow Exchange.
The issue meets the requirements for inclusion in the Bank of Russia Lombard List.
Gazprombank and Moscow Credit Bank have been bookrunners in the issuance of new bonds. Placement agent — Gazprombank.
