Stefan Weiler from the DCM team of sole bookrunner JPMorgan said investors were attracted by the diversification the credit offered. "Given the stream of traditional private bank supply from Kazakhstan, investors were clearly looking for something different and Astana Finance provided this through its close links with the rapidly expanding City of Astana," he explained. BTA Securities was a co-lead manager marking the first time a Kazakh bank has filled such a role. A strong letter of comfort for the bond from the municipality, which owns just over 30% of Astana Finance, provided a moral obligation to support the issue, giving rare quasi-sovereign status for an issue from Kazakhstan, Weiler added. Alexander Savchuk, chairman of Astana Finances management board, stressed the importance of the bonds scarcity value, which it does not want to jeopardise by becoming a frequent issuer, a factor that ensured the deal was not increased. Max Wolman of Aberdeen Asset Management said he did not participate in the transaction because, although Astana Finance had a solid though undiversified loan book, he worried the city could potentially (though this is very unlikely) switch its business to another bank. Wolman added that this was a buy and hold issue, and therefore unlikely to be a liquid trading instrument. Asian interest was moderate by recent Kazakh standards with the region taking just 16% of the offering. UK accounts were allocated 32%, Germany 17%, Scandinavia 14%, Switzerland 10%, Benelux 3% and others 8%. By investor type asset managers received 63%, banks 21%, and private banks 16%. Payment date is next Thursday while the bond matures on February 16 2009. Fees were 70 cents.

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