DOHA: Dolphin Energy Limited has successfully issued $1.3bn of 10-year senior secured bullet bonds.
The initial $1bn bond was priced on Tuesday February 7, 2012 with an additional $300m tap bond priced on Thursday February 9, 2012 due to strong investor demand.
The two issues of bonds will be fully fungible, carry a coupon of 5.5 percent and mature on 15 December 2021.
Dolphin Energy's major strategic initiative, the Dolphin Project, involves the production and processing of natural gas from Qatar's North Field, and transportation of the dry gas by sub-sea export pipeline from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates, which began in July 2007.
The $1bn transaction is priced at par. The $300m transaction was priced at a 5.34 percent yield on the back of a 101.25 percent bond price.
The $1.3bn bonds have received an A+ rating from Fitch and an A1 rating from Moody's, both with stable outlook.
Dolphin Energy CEO, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, said: "As a result of strong investor demand, we decided to increase the size by another $300m.
"We were able to attract strong demand and price our bonds at the tight end, despite the current volatile markets."
Al Sayegh added: "The level of initial demand and the performance of the bonds in the secondary market demonstrate the great job our staff and sponsors have done in telling Dolphin Energy's story to investors.
"The capital markets recognize the strength of the business and appreciate our high credit quality and increased transparency."
© The Peninsula 2012
