OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2011. Alfa-Bank was the sole arranger of its debut placement of series 01 proprietary bonds. The bonds were placed on February 8 with a total face value of RUB5bn and mature in five years. The issue carries a three-year buy-back option and half-yearly coupon payments. The series 01 bonds placed at a public offering are eligible to trade on the MICEX requiring no listing procedure. Furthermore, the bonds will be put on a quotation list, reported the press-centre of Alfa-Bank.

This was Alfa-Bank’s first ruble bond placement in seven years and one of the first issue on the Russian market in 2011. The rate of the first-sixth coupons has been set at 8.25%  per annum. Subsequent coupon payments will be set by the Issuer. Nearly 100 bids were received with a coupon rate varying from 8.00%  to 8.55%  per annum, pushing down initial guidance of 8.40–8.90% to 8.25 — 8.55%. When the book closed, the aggregate lower guidance was nearly three times than the offer making it over 13.5 bn rubles.

Edward Kaufman, Co-head of Corporate-Investment Banking at Alfa-Bank, said, "Placing ruble bonds opens up new opportunities for us to diversify our sources of funding. Alfa-Bank’s return to the ruble bond market has demonstrated that is attractive to the market and that its credit quality is appreciated by investors. The placement was a success, as the number of buyers and average size of the bids guarantee the liquidity of the paper".

Alfa-Bank is rated Ba1 by Moody’s, B+ by Standard & Poor’s and BB by Fitch Ratings.