State-owned Qatar Telecommunications Company (Qtel) closed its $1.5bn bond sale at more than 10 times oversubscribed, with bids exceeding $15bn.   

Qtel launched a $500m six-year bond and a $1bn 10-year bond this week priced at 3.375 per cent and 4.75 per cent respectively. The net proceeds of the sale will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing existing indebtedness.

The telecoms company began a roadshow for the benchmark-sized dollar bond earlier this week, with six banks mandated to manage the sale – the UK’s Barclays Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Standard Chartered, Qatar National Bank, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ for the issue.

“We are delighted by the overwhelming response from global fixed income investors to our second note issuance under our GMTN programme,” said Qtel in a press statement published on 7 October.

“The combination of market demand, long-term financing and attractive pricing levels are a strong indication of the continuing confidence of the fixed income community in Qtel’s strategy, financial strength and management.”

Appetite for Qatari bond issues has been boosted by increased demand for emerging market bond sales.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) launched a $750m Islamic bond (sukuk) on 30 September with the UK’s HSBC, Switzerland’s Credit Suisse and QInvest, the largest investment bank in Qatar, acting as lead managers.