DP World priced a dual-tranche issuance at 25bp tighter than initial price thoughts

DP World tightens pricing on EUR, USD bonds: Dubai ports and logistics major DP World priced EUR 750 mn of six-year green notes at a 4.750% coupon — 150bp over mid-swaps, yielding 4.883% — alongside USD 750 mn of 10-year conventional notes at 6.250%, also 150bp, this time over US Treasuries, yielding 6.347%, Zawya reports. The firm had mandated a roadshow for the dual-tranche issuance earlier this week.

Investors showed up. Both tranches tightened 25bp from IPTs of around 175bp. Order books closed above EUR 1.5 bn and USD 1.3 bn — excluding joint lead manager interest, so real demand was likely higher — for agreements carrying DP World's Baa2 (Moody's) / BBB+ (Fitch) ratings, both with a stable outlook. Both tranches list on the London Stock Exchange's International Securities Market and Nasdaq Dubai.

The issuance comes as DP World is mid-expansion: Just this week, DP World and Kenya's GulfCap Africa signed a shareholders' agreement to advance the 222-hectare Mombasa Industrial Park, with the first 40-hectare phase already drawing interest from more than 60 companies. DP World first announced the project in August; the industrial park sits less than 20 km from Mombasa's port and gives the company a foothold in the gateway economy. There's no indication the bond proceeds are earmarked for Mombasa specifically, but the timing underlines that this is a company raising capital while actively deploying it elsewhere, not one raising defensively.

BACKGROUND- FAB priced its own USD 500 mn five-year senior unsecured bond earlier this week ago at T+90bp — also 25bp tighter than its T+115bp initial talk, on more than USD 1 bn of orders. That already marked a narrowing from spreads earlier during the war, like March’s peak (108bp) and closer to January's 79bp low. The identical 25bp compression on both issuances is a signal that Gulf issuers, across sectors, investor ratings, and tenors, are still drawing demand from global investors, war or not.