South Korea\'s state-run lender raises $1bn via dollar bonds

South Korea\'s state-run policy lender Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Wednesday that it has raised 1 billion U.S. dollars through dual-tranche dollar bond issuance amid strong demand from the Middle Eastern investors. The fixed-rate bonds were issued in two tranches that mature in three and five years in a bid to meet demand for various maturities and ease risks of maturity concentration, according to an e-mailed statement. The three-year bond was floated with an yield of 80 basis points (bps) above the corresponding U.S. Treasury bond yield. The five-year bond carried an yield of 97.5 bps above the similar- maturity U.S. Treasury bond yield, marking the first two-digit level since the global financial crisis. The two tranches were sold worth 500 million dollars each. The successful bond sales were attributed to solid demand from the Mid-East investors, whose bid for the bonds amounted to 300 million dollars, the KDB said, adding that global key investors such as PIMCO and Bank of China also joined the bidding. Helped by strong interest from global investors, the coupon rates neared to the record-low level, the KDB said. The coupon rates for the three- and five-year bonds were set at 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. Global rating appraiser Standard & Poor\'s assigned\'A\' rating on the dollar bond, just one grade lower than the sovereign rating of South Korea. S&P said the KDB intended to use the bond proceeds for the bank\'s general operations, including extending foreign currency loans and repaying maturing debt and other obligations. Join bookrunners for the sale include Barclays, Bank of America- Merrill Lynch, Daiwa, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS and KDB Asia.