Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) has issued new five-year bonds with a total nominal value of $35 million in a private subscription with the participation of nine banks and companies from Palestine, Jordan and Bahrain.

APIC's general assembly recently approved the issue in its extraordinary meeting held in Ramallah.

Subscription requests for the bond totalled $80.5 million, representing 230 per cent of the subscription offer, said a statement.
   
Chairman and chief executive officer of APIC Tarek Aggad said that the bond issuance holds many advantages for the company and its future plans, including optimising the company's capital structure.

Aggad added: "There has been a big demand for subscription in APIC bonds. It demonstrates the great appetite and trust APIC enjoys from the financial markets. It is also a reflection of the solid performance demonstrated by the company on the financial, operational and credit fronts."

The subscribers of the bonds are: Arab Bank, Palestine; Bank of Palestine, Palestine; Bank of Jordan, Palestine; Cairo Amman Bank, Palestine; Cairo Amman Bank, Jordan; Usoul for Arab Company, Bahrain; Quds Bank, Palestine; The National Bank, Palestine; and the National Insurance Company, Palestine.

Aggad also indicated that a number of the banks that subscribed to the first issue in 2012 have renewed their subscriptions for this second issue. This further demonstrates the ongoing and increasing interest and trust of existing bondholders throughout the past five years by cementing their relationship with APIC.

APIC bonds are structured with a bullet repayment after five years, with a call/early payment option. They are privately issued and are not traded nor listed on any stock exchange; are not convertible into shares; represent senior debt; and are collateralised with 110 per cent collateral coverage ratio.

APIC is a foreign public shareholding investment company listed on the Palestine Exchange. Its investments are diverse across the manufacturing, trade, distribution and service sectors in Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE through a group of nine subsidiaries. - TradeArabia News Service