The Banker names Ardshinbank’s $300m Eurobond issue Europe's Deal of The Year

Official press release by Ardshinbank

Ardshinbank’s placement of US$300 million Eurobonds in the international capital markets was selected as the most outstanding in its category in Europe and was recognized as Deal of the Year by The Banker, a leading global business magazine and part of the Financial Times Group.

The Banker reports: “Armenia’s economy demonstrated strong and sustained economic growth of ca. 7% per year in 2017-2019. At the same time the banking sector remains stable and well capitalized by regional standards, due to relatively strict banking regulation in Armenia. The country also continues to tackle endemic corruption problems that have adversely impacted its economic development in the past. In Transparency International’s most recent global corruption rankings Armenia considerably improved its scoring, rising the ranks to 77 out of 180 countries, a considerable improvement of its previous ranking of 105.

As Armenia’s leading bank, Ardshinbank was able to capitalize on the strong fundamentals of the Armenian economy and banking sector, successfully reestablishing its yield curve in January 2020 with a US$300 million 6.5% 5-year Reg S/ 144(A) senior unsecured Eurobond offering. Reflective of the systemically important position of Ardshinbank and its strong profitability and asset quality metrics, the issuance was rated Ba3 by Moody’s and B+ by Fitch and in line with the rating for sovereign. The new Eurobond issue allowed Ardshinbank to almost half its borrowing costs, with the coupon of 6.5% being the lowest ever achieved by an Armenian non-sovereign issuer in the Eurobond market.

A focused global roadshow saw Management engaging accounts in New York, Boston, London, Frankfurt and Zurich, resulting in a strong meeting-to-order conversion rate. The transaction was characterized by a diversified and well oversubscribed orderbook of ca. US$500 million across 70 investors.

While this Eurobond issuance by Ardshinbank is the third Eurobond offering by the bank since 2014, it is the largest offering so far and is the first benchmark sized and bond index eligible issuance. Ardshinbank remains so far the only Armenian bank and private company to have issued bonds in international capital markets”. 

“When we first accessed international debt capital markets, this allowed Ardshinbank not only to attract US$ funding but also established Ardshinbank’s reputation in the investor community globally. Over the last years we saw continuously increasing interest in Ardshinbank’s credit story by international investors and rating agencies. This successful and award winning Eurobond offering is the result of continuous work and investor engagements over the last years. Despite the difficult circumstances businesses face globally due to the COVID-19 crisis, Ardshinbank remains confident to continue to demonstrate solid operational metrics, a strong liquidity position allowing the bank to finance new projects according to schedule”, - commented Ardshinbank’s Chairman of the Management Board, Artak Ananyan.

The Banker's Deals of the Year awards celebrate the most impressive investment banking transactions across the broad spectrum of global capital markets. The Banker examines hundreds of financing deals and selects the most interesting and bold transactions.The success of this issuance testifies of Ardshinbank’s successful implementation of its growth strategy and focus on increased transparency and implementation of international standards.