The first Eurobonds of JSC "UzAuto Motors" are placed on the international capital market

In the last Message of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis dated December 29, 2020, special attention was paid to the implementation of the reform program of all state-owned enterprises, including Uzavtosanoat JSC in 2021 should enter the international financial market and be able to raise funds without state guarantees.

The international capital market plays an important role in ensuring sustainable economic growth in the country and attracting large-scale foreign investment. The successful placement of Eurobonds of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2019 opened up new prospects for the entry of domestic enterprises, including JSC “UzAuto Motors”, into international markets.

As previously announced, from 22 to 26 April 2021, a Roadshow on the issue of Eurobonds was held, during which representatives of the Ministry of Finance and UzAuto Motors made presentations to foreign investors and answered their respective questions.

For reference: within the framework of the Roadshow event, a teleconference (Global Investor Call) was held with the participation of more than 50 global institutional investors from the United States, Europe, the Russian Federation and Asian countries, as well as
one-to-one meetings with 28 major international investors were organized.

On the recommendation of financial consultants-underwriters, based on the proposals of investors, the initial interest rate of JSC “UzAuto Motors” was set at around 5.375%, and at 08:15 London time, the order book was declared open.

Orders totaled $ 1.1 billion as of 1:00 p.m. London time. Based on the volume of orders generated and the financial consultant's analysis, the interest rate was reduced to 5.00-5.125%. After the opening of the US markets, the volume of orders continued to increase, reaching a maximum of $ 1.4 billion, which provided an opportunity for further interest rate cuts.

At 15:00 London time, the final interest rate and coupon were reduced by approximately 0.15% to 4.85%. 

Eurobonds were distributed to almost 130 investors from the UK (37%), the US (14%), Germany (8%) and a number of other European (35%) and Asian (6%) countries.

At the same time, the majority of these investors were asset managers and funds (67%), which were also actively distributed between banks (23%) and insurance and pension funds (10%).

The successful placement of the first Eurobonds of Uzbek corporate issuers by JSC "UzAuto Motors" indicates a positive assessment by investors of the reforms carried out in the Republic of Uzbekistan, including the reform program of state-owned enterprises.