PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government says the one billion US dollar sovereign bond has been successfully issued on the United States market and has been oversubscribed by approximately 2.5 times.
Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo said that the oversubscription of the bonds issued on January 22 underscores strong and diversified investor demand for investment in this country.
“The successful issuance represents a clear validation of the sovereign’s credit fundamentals and new disciplined policy framework achieving pricing tighter than benchmarks, while also attracting an order book 2.5 times the final issue size in the U.S. market, which reflects sustained investor confidence in the credit and improved risk perception of the new government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Tancoo said that on January 16, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced a three (3) day roadshow comprising in-person and virtual meetings with key international investors. He said the delegation from Trinidad and Tobago met with more than 50 fixed-income investors, both one-on-one and in group sessions, to provide an update on the sovereign credit and the rationale for the transaction.
He said at the opening of business in New York on January 22, with a favourable market backdrop, the Joint Bookrunners recommended that Trinidad and Tobago announce the benchmark transaction. As a result, the order book climbed quickly throughout the morning, driven by large orders from real-money accounts.
He said, leveraging over 140 orders from top accounts, Trinidad and Tobago launched the one billion US dollar bond with a 20-bps (basis points) compression from Initial Price Talks (IPTs). “The new US$1.0bn ten (10) year senior unsecured bond successfully closed at a 6.500 per cent coupon and 98.552 per cent price. The notes will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and will be governed by the laws of New York,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
“The transaction was priced at levels approximately 54.6 basis points tighter than the sovereign’s original issuance of this one billion US dollar transaction, issued in 2016. The transaction also achieved compression in IPT spreads, pricing within benchmarks, and prevailing emerging-market levels. This transaction meaningfully enhances Trinidad and Tobago’s sovereign funding profile, and further supports continued engagement with global investors on increasingly favorable terms,” the ministry added.
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