Barclays Bank welcomes investment arm's bond issue

Investment bank Barclays Capital has launched a €750 million (£515 million) issue on behalf of Estonia's Hansabank.

The deal is the largest to come out of the Baltic region and also marks the largest corporate-bond offering to come out of an EU accession state, according to The Times.

The bond, which pays an interest rate of 25 basis points over three-month European rates, will mature in 2009.

Hansabank, based in Tallinn, is the largest bank in the Baltics, operating in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Scandinavia's fifth-largest bank, Swedbank, owns a 59.7 per cent stake in the bank.

Hansabank claims that proceeds from the issue will go towards refinancing existing borrowings and to finance future business opportunities.

The bank's chief financial officer, Kristina Siimar, said: "We are very happy with the result as well as the trust shown by investors towards the bank."

Hansabank's raised €300 million through the international bonds market in March 2003 to fund expansion.