White & Case advises Israel Discount Bank on inaugural covered bond programme establishment and €500 million covered bonds issuance

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Israel Discount Bank Ltd. (Discount Bank) on the establishment of its €1.5 billion global covered bond programme and the issuance of €500 million covered bonds due 2031 – the second Israeli issuer offering covered bonds to international investors.

"Israel Discount Bank's inaugural covered bond issuance marks an important milestone for the bank and for the continued development of the international covered bond market for Israeli issuers. This transaction demonstrates the strength of Israel Discount Bank's credit profile and its commitment to diversifying its funding sources through the international capital markets, where we have played a central role in the development of a brand new covered bond market," said White & Case partner Debashis Dey, who led the Firm's deal team.

Discount Bank, one of Israel's five largest banking groups, is the second Israeli bank to access the international covered bond market. The bonds were offered under Regulation S and listed on TASE-UP (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange). Barclays acted as global coordinator with Goldman Sachs, Citi, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank acting as lead managers. The bond issuance, priced at 3.875%, attracted strong investor demand from international investors and the bonds achieved strong credit ratings of AA- by Fitch and Aa3 by Moody's.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Debashis Dey (Dubai) and included associates Eren Ayanlar and Patrick Chindo (both Dubai) and Yuning Zhou (Hong Kong). On the hedging workstreams, partner Ingrid York, counsel Phillan Amin, associates Lara Taylor and Sebastian Modos (all London) assisted the transaction team.

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