UAE's Majid Al Futtaim eyes benchmark bond

DUBAI: UAE mall developer Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Holding is keeping a close eye on Europe's debt crisis to assess demand for a five-year benchmark-sized bond.

The sole franchisee of French hypermarket chain Carrefour in the Gulf is meeting investors after it set up a $2 billion global bond programme earlier this month.

"Investors prefer a five-year bond and this works for us too," Daniele Vecchi, senior vice president for treasury at MAF Group, said on Thursday. "It would be a benchmark transaction, but we are not looking at a very big value at all."

Benchmark bond issues are typically at least $500 million.

Vecchi said the company was not under pressure to issue a bond and any sale would depend on market conditions. "We are meeting investors now and after that we will see if market conditions are attractive. We may or may not go ahead with it."

The debt crisis in Europe's single currency zone has spooked investors, which may make the pricing of any bond MAF issue unattractive.

More clarity on MAF's intentions is likely to surface once roadshows conclude next week. Meetings are being arranged by Barclays , Credit Agricole , HSBC and Standard Chartered .

"It is a first time issuer, and the story is not that well known among bond investors. Also, there is a glut of new issuances in the market right now," said Usman Ahmed, senior fund manager at Emirates NBD Asset Management.

The company has more than $900 million of debt due to mature in 2012, according to its bond prospectus.

MAF said earlier that it plans to spend $3.5 billion up to 2015 on four new malls.

"MAF has no government ownership or backing and despite being a profitable enterprise, has considerable exposure to Dubai real estate," said a fixed income market source.

"I will be really surprised if they can clinch a deal similar to the state-run entities in the region."

Dubai's government and flagship carrier Emirates have both issued bonds in the last month, taking advantage of returning confidence in the United Arab Emirates seen as a relatively safe haven from political unrest elsewhere in the Middle East.

Copyright Reuters, 2011