4.5% wordt er gefluisterd. 7.5bn of AT1, woow. Daar gaat je ADI.
Rabobank Said to Debut Riskiest Bank Debt in the Netherlands (1)
(Updates with company comments in second, third paragraphs.)
By John Glover
(Bloomberg) -- Rabobank Groep is planning a sale of the riskiest bank bonds, the first Dutch issuer to take advantage of new tax rules aimed at helping them access the fastest-growing market for financial debt.
Europe’s biggest agricultural lender hired Credit Suisse Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to help its own bankers arrange investor meetings in Europe starting tomorrow, according to Rogier Everwijn, the head of capital at the Utrecht-based bank. The euro-denominated notes will be written down should Rabobank’s equity fall to pre-set percentages of risk-weighted assets, he said.
Rabobank is coming to the market a month after Dutch lawmakers passed a proposal allowing issuers to pay interest on contingent capital securities out of pretax earnings. The lender plans to sell as much as 7.5 billion euros ($8.9 billion) of the additional Tier 1 debt by 2019, according to Everwijn.
“Now that the tax treatment of the bonds has been decided on, we can expect to see the strongest Dutch issuers in the market,” said Francois Lavier, who helps oversee about $17.7 billion of assets at Lazard Freres Gestion in Paris. “Rabobank is viewed as being one of the strongest banks in Europe.”
Capital Buffers
Additional Tier 1 bonds, which have no maturity dates and optional coupon payments, are the fastest-growing part of the debt market for European lenders. Issuance has soared to more than $65 billion since the market opened in April 2013 as regulators pressure banks to hold bigger capital buffers to cover losses in the event of a crisis.
Rabobank is ranked Aa2 at Moody’s Investors Service, two steps below the top investment-grade credit rating, while Standard & Poor’s has Rabobank two levels lower at A+.
The lender may be able to sell its debut notes to yield as little as 4.5 percent, said Roger Francis, an analyst at Mizuho International Plc in London. That would be the lowest coupon on any additional Tier 1 bond issued by a European lender, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.