Armenian bonds could be named Kardashian
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has just wrapped up its road show drumming up interest for its debut dollar-denominated bond, which is expected to hit the market this week or next, as reports Armenpress, Serena Ruffoni and Katie Martin write in The Wall Street Journal blog.
When it lands, expect intense interest in its funding costs, especially now that the easy money days that have helped other frontier issuers borrow at knock-down rates are coming to an end.
Dollar bonds issued outside the US often have nicknames. Kangaroo Bonds from Australia. Samurai Bonds from Japan.
And Armenia, among many things, is famous for it's apricots, which are thought to have originated there, and, Los Angeles's finest, the Kardashians. Apricot Bonds has a nice ring to it. But alas, it's unlikely to catch on. Tim Ash, an emerging markets analyst at Standard Bank, has already coined Kardashian Bonds in notes to clients, quipping "that wrapper has gotta be worth a few basis points, providing something of a bottom for this credit."
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