BAWAG’s €1bn 4.25% fundierte Schuldverschreibung due February 2014
Barclays Capital and ABN AMRO were joint bookrunners
Austria’s BAWAG (Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft) launched its debut euro-denominated covered bond in January 2004, even though it had been downgraded the previous month – a factor that highlighted the deal for the judges. Despite the downgrade, there was strong support, and pricing was in the middle of the indicative range with the deal attracting an order book of almost €1.4bn from a broad international investor base.
The collateral pool for the covered bond consists of 100% Republic of Austria assets and offers diversification to European covered bond investors. BAWAG is rated A1 and the issue Aa1. The bond was priced at a reoffer spread of 21.7 basis points over the Bund 2014, equivalent to mid-swaps plus 8bp.
