OREANDA-NEWS. On March 6, 2007 Russian juice-maker Lebedyansky JSC placed a RUR 1,5 billion debut bond issue - the first with coupon payments linked to MosPrime by a Russian company. ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria acted as the lead manager on the issue, with the help of the following co-Managers: Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley, Commerzbank, WestLB AG, International Moscow Bank, Bank VTB 24, Bank Uralsib.The bonds were placed via a public subscription procedure on Russia’s MICEX exchange. As a result of the auction the spread to the 3-month MosPrime rate (5,43% p.a. as of March 5, 2007) was fixed at 143 basis points (1,43%). Thus the initial coupon rate was set at 6,86% - the lowest in the history of the non-state corporate bond market. The issue was 2.6 times oversubscribed.The entire issue was placed during the auction, with investor demand (20 orders) totalling RUR 3,8 billion. The overall premium to MosPrime proposed by investors ranged from 110 to 207 basis points.The RUR 1,5 billion issue is a quarterly coupon-bearing 3-year bond. The coupon rate equals the sum of a three month MosPrime rate fixed on the last day of each coupon period with a premium of 143 basis points. The bond has call-options attached: on the day of each coupon payment starting from the fifth coupon, the issuer may call the bonds at 100,25% of their face value.

The proceeds from the bond issue will be used to refinance existing short-term debt owed by Lebedyansky.

Pavel Gourine, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Head of Corporate Banking & Corporate Finance Directorate, ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria said: “The placement is another step in the evolution of Russian corporate bond market, raising it to international market standards. The deal is the logical conclusion of the tendency initiated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the first issuer to offer investors rouble bonds with coupon payments linked to MosPrime. The premium defined in the course of auction clearly represents an evaluation of the issuer’s credit quality. We believe the deal’s structure will not only reduce the company’s loan maintenance expenses but will be seen an instrument for investors to bring down the risk of rate fluctuation and diversify credit risks. We are convinced that the successful debut placement of OAO Lebedyansky is another shining example that will increase the number of issues with floating coupon rate on the market.”