Belarusian retailer Eurotorg has successfully priced a $350 million eurobond, with an annual coupon rate of 8.75%, maturing on 30 October 2022.
Earlier this month it was reported that the supermarket operator was set to issue the bond, which is the first ever corporate eurobond placed in Belarus.
The retail group says that it intends to use to proceeds of the transaction to refinance existing debt and for general corporate purposes.
“Our debut offering was very well received by investors, which reflects the strength of our business and its potential for further growth going forward," said Andrei Zubkou, CEO of Eurotorg.
"We saw significant demand from a broad range of high-quality investors from Asia, Europe, the United States and Russia, and the order book was several times oversubscribed. Thanks to this diversified demand, we were able to significantly reduce the coupon from our initial guidance."
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Eurotorg says that it has capitalised on the opportunity established by Belarus' successful sovereign Eurobond this summer.
"By becoming the first corporate issuer from our country to access international capital markets, we have established a precedent and benchmark for others to follow," added Zubkou.
"We believe that this opens the market for more high quality Belarusian issuers, and will make a positive contribution to the development of the country’s investment environment and economy as a whole.”
Eurtorg is Belarus' largest food retailer, with a 19% market share. It operates 460 stores under five different formats, ranging from convenience stores to hypermarkets.
The country's retail sector is largely dominated by small, independent traders. In August, Spar became the first international company to enter Belarus' retail market.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
