Lebanon Sells $500M Bond Ahead Of Election End (Zawya.com)

Market watchers reported a difficult passage for the transaction, which priced at the widest end of initial guidance. The shorter tranche, maturing in 2008, offered a yield of 7.5%, while the 2013 issue paid 8.75%. Lead managers were Credit Suisse First Boston and Lebanon's Blom Bank.
The government was pressured to come to market ahead of the June 30 rollover of roughly $350 million of borrowing, the trader said. At $14 billion, Lebanon is the largest issuer from the Middle East in the Eurobond market.
The civil war that began in 1975 and lasted 15 years left deep divisions in Lebanon, and the country's economic progress since has been halting. The Paris II donor conference in 2002, which restructured around $9.5 billion of Lebanon's debt, helped spare the economy a relapse towards default. But at around 174% of gross domestic product, Lebanon's public debt ratio is one of the highest of all countries rated by international credit agencies.
Lebanon is rated B- by Standard & Poor's Corp., B3 by Moody's Investors Service Inc. and B- by Fitch Ratings.