The ORB retail bond market looks set to welcome another retail bond before Christmas with the potential launch of a retail-focused bond from oil explorer and producer, Premier Oil (PMO). The details of the bond are currently sketchy, but the company is looking to raise money for general corporate purposes, rather than putting it towards any of its specific development projects. The news follows on from an announcement by EnQuest (ENQ) that it intends to tap its existing bond issue in order to raise additional funds.
From what has so far been made public, the Premier Oil bond looks fairly standard for ORB. The initial subscription is £2,000 with the bond tradeable in £100 increments thereafter. The bonds also carry the usual negative pledge over its assets and a semi-annual coupon to be paid in arrears. Meanwhile, the Enquest bond tap follows the trend set by International Personal Finance (IPF) in raising more money by issuing new bonds that are "fungible" with its existing £145m 5.5 per cent 2022 bonds.
