Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has completed the issue of a $1bn bond that was priced at 8.5 per cent.

The deal came in at the lower end of initial price guidance that had originally been expected to go up to 8.75 per cent. Bankers close to the deal say investors offered to buy up to $10bn of bonds.

Pricing is expected to tighten once the bond begins to be traded in the secondary market.

One trader says, “The issue has gone well for Dewa and we expect pricing to tighten to be about 50-60 basis points higher than the Dubai government bonds, which are priced around 6.4 per cent.”

Another regional utility, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) is also planning an Islamic bond (sukuk) issue in May.