Foreign investors may buy from 30 to 40 percent of ten-year bonds worth 10 billion rubles issued by Russia's Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy Systems (FGC UES), an executive of Renaissance Capital investment company said on Monday.
Foreign investors' strong demand for ruble-denominated bonds from quasi-sovereign issuers can be judged from the high demand for Russian ruble-denominated Eurobonds, Eduard Dzhabarov, Renaissance Capital director for debt finance, said.
"FGC UES' issue may become a duration benchmark for companies with the same credit quality. I would not like to leap ahead but I do not rule out that the issuers with the BB and BB+ ratings will come next," he added.
FGC UES opened a bid book on Monday for its 13-series bonds worth 10 billion rubles. Russia's largest lender Sberbank, Renaissance Capital, VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russia's second largest lender VTB, and Gazprombank, one of Russia's top three lenders, have been appointed as lead managers for the deal.
The annual coupon price guidance has been set at 8.9-9.2 percent. The issue does not envisage a bondholder put option.
The bid book will be closed at 15:00 Moscow time on July 1, 2011.
