Belarus-based food retailer Eurotorg has announced the successful placement of an additional RUB 5 billion (€70 million) issue of its series 01 unsecured bonds.
As a result of the book-building, the bonds were placed with a premium to face value of 103%.
In July 2019, the retailer made it debut in the Russian bond market by placing RUB 5 billion of five-year unsecured bonds.
'Long-Term Relations'
Eurotorg chief executive, Andrey Zubkov, said, “We are continuing to diversify our debt portfolio, and are constantly looking for ways to optimise our repayment schedules, reduce interest rates and increase the share of unsecured credit. Today’s transaction confirms our intention to build long-term relations with investors in Russia."
The issue was almost two times oversubscribed, and the total volume of the bonds in circulation stands at RUB 10 billion, the retailer said.
The transaction was completed and settled on 30 September and the bonds have been submitted for listing on Moscow Exchange.
'High Levels Of Interest'
Denis Shulakov, senior vice-president at Gazprombank, commented, "Eurotorg’s latest offering once again saw high levels of interest from a wide range of investors, including international investors. There were dozens of bids from institutional investors as well as more than 200 individual investors.
"Eurotorg’s second successful placement in the Russian debt market underscores investors’ belief in the Company and once again illustrates the Russian market’s high-quality infrastructure and ability to successfully absorb issuance by international companies on a regular basis," he added.
The bonds were issued by Retail Bel Finance LLC, with LECAP as the retailer's legal adviser.
The organisers comprised BCS Global Markets, VTB Capital, Gazprombank, Moscow Credit Bank, Region Group, Renaissance Capital and Sovcombank.
'Strengthen Eurotorg’s Reputation'
Deputy head of debt capital markets at VTB Capital, Alexey Konochkin, said, "There was high-quality demand for the securities from a wide group of investors, and we saw more than two-times oversubscription for Eurotorg’s bonds. We were able to close the order book with a small premium to the Company’s securities currently trading in the secondary market.
"We are confident that this transaction will serve to strengthen Eurotorg’s reputation as a major player in the Russian debt market."
In May of this year, Eurotorg became the first non-Russian company to receive a credit rating from a Russian rating agency.
Expert RA assigned a rating of ruA- for the Company’s issue of bonds in Russian roubles, with a Stable outlook.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
