NEW YORK, (IFR) – Argentina made a triumphant return to the international bond markets yesterday, selling a bigger-than-expected US$16.5bn offering that amassed a whopping US$69bn-plus in orders.
A market pariah since a 2001 default, Argentina was welcomed back to the club of borrowing nations with one of the largest order books ever seen for an emerging markets bond.
That allowed it to achieve tight pricing across all four tranches, underscoring the market’s eagerness to get in on one of the marquee offerings of the year so far.
“Argentina is a grab-fest out there,” one New York-based investor told IFR.
Some in the market doubted the sovereign, plagued by defaults in the past and an uncertain political climate in the present, would reach its ambitious pricing goals.
But on the day, it was able to sell a US$6.5bn 10-year, the centerpiece of the offering, at 7.5%.
It also sold a US$2.75bn three-year at 6.25%, a US$4.5bn five-year at 6.875% and a US$2.75bn 30-year at 8% with a 7.625% coupon. All tranches priced at par, except the 30-year which came at a price of 95.758.
Average yield on the new bond sale came at 7.14%, according to local brokerage citing Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay
