KommuneKredit opens the funding year with new short 15-year 500 million EUR benchmark

On Wednesday 24th January, KommuneKredit priced a new EUR 500 million (no-grow) Nov-38 benchmark.

The orderbook officially opened on Wednesday the 24th of January at 09:30 CET, with an initial spread guidance of MS+47 bps area.

The deal started on strong footing, very quickly covering the 500 million and progressing to 1 billion (excluding JLM interest) by the book update at 12:00 CET where the spread was set at MS+45, 2bps tighter than guidance. Interest continued with final books closing in excess of EUR 1.2 billion (excluding JLM interest) across 62 investors.

At 15:00 CET, the transaction officially priced at MS+45bp, equivalent to a reoffer yield of 3,212% and 70.9bp over the DBR 1% 05/2038

The book attracted strong support from central banks (allocated 40%) as well as insurance/pension funds (27%) and asset managers (26%). In terms of geographical distribution, the DACH-region took the lions share (50% allocation) followed by UK/Ireland (28%) with the residual broadly diversified across the rest of EMEA.

Statement from KommuneKredit:

Louise Gregersen, Senior Funding & IR Manager

“Opening the funding year with a 15-year issuance, we are pleased to experience, that once again our persistent duration needs have been well received by the European investor community. Thank you for the support to new names as well as well-recognized, recurring investors in our order book.”

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Lead Manager Quotes

“In a market characterized by high uncertainty in relation to spreads and their development Kommunekredit very vigilantly issued a new short 15y Benchmark allowing the issuer to price 2bp inside original guidance at MS+45 for their EUR 500m deal. The transaction revealed that investors value scarcity again as the issuer was not paying a premium to EU still allowing for the second largest orderbook in KommuneKredit’s history for maturities beyond 10 years with over EUR 1.2bn of demand from over 60 different accounts.”

Klaus-Peter Eitel, Head of Public Sector at Commerzbank

“KommuneKredit demonstrated its ability to manage price discovery and successfully access longer tenors in the Euro market with its new 15-year benchmark. The depth and quality of the final orderbook, which remained intact after a 2bp spread revision, demonstrates its strong investor recognition. Many congratulations to the team!”

Vinay Parmar, Vice President SSA DCM at HSBC

"Congratulations to the KommuneKredit team on the very successful result for its first benchmark outing in 2024. The transaction, which complements KommuneKredit’s long-end Euro curve with a new liquid reference point, was met with high quality demand allowing the issuer to tighten the spread by 2bps. The issuer’s rarity and AAA status, backed by the strong Danish municipality sector and lowly indebted public sector, are key elements for the continuous strong investor support for this name.”

Kamal Grossard-Amin, Head of SSA DCM at Nordea

“Kommunekredit’ s decision to issue its first Euro benchmark of 2024 early in the year, navigating around the January supply, proved to be very successful. The attractive high quality credit, one of the rare AAA rated agencies in the European landscape, and the judicious choice of the 15y maturity met with widespread interest in particular from the institutional and central bank community. The execution strategy was in line with the best in class practice of the SSA Euro market, paving the way for future positive developments.”

Olivier Vion, Head of SSA Primary Market at Société Générale