Roadshows for the project bond issued out of the commercial debt refinancing for Abu Dhabi's Taweelah A2 independent water and power project (IWPP) were staged in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain in late June, with further meetings scheduled in Doha and Kuwait in early July.

'The subscription period is going to run for two-three weeks - we are not rushing this - and will close in mid-July,' says one of the lead managers.

The $133.7 million issue is being staged by a Jersey-incorporated special purpose vehicle, Abu Dhabi Power Bond, which has bought a same-sized portion of the 16-year refinancing for the IWPP project company, Emirates CMS Power Company(MEED 19:3:04).

The bond issue is being lead managed by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), HSBC, Standard Chartered Bankand National Bank of Dubai. NBAD is acting as bookrunner and arranger.

The paper has been split into three tranches: a four-year issue of about $20 million on which indicative pricing is about 40-45 basis points (bp) above Libor; a similarly-sized seven-year tranche priced at about 70-75 bp; and a $90 million tranche priced at 80-85 bp.

'We are looking for as wide an investor base as we can get, but realistically this is going to be placed with regional banks,' says one of the lead managers. 'It does represent an opportunity for those regional financial institutions unable to participate in project finance deals for reasons of capacity or an unwillingness to absorb long tenor.'

The instruments will be listed in Luxembourg and it is understood that an application has also been tabled for a listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.