OLB benchmark size Pfandbrief debut

In short we wanted to achieve the next milestone in the Bank’s development. OLB has developed dynamically in recent years and has also changed to some extent. We are no longer a regional bank, but a modern Germany-wide company with selective business in neighboring European countries. Although our granular customer deposits are still the most important component for our funding, the mergers in recent years and the strong growth of the Bank have meant that we wanted and needed to develop our funding further. We therefore decided to expand our activities on the capital market and enter the syndicated market. As a first step, we used the sub-benchmark format and were able to place 350 million euros in both 2021 and 2022. Due to the bank’s growth, it was important to take the next step soon afterwards and prepare a full-sizes benchmark issuance. And this January the time had come: we were able to successfully issue our first benchmark Mortgage Pfandbrief with 500 million euros.

The placement went very well, after less than 30 minutes the order book had reached 500 million euros and very soon the one billion euro mark was exceeded. It was the largest order book that OLB has ever achieved, with 76 first-class investors and a final volume of more than EUR 1.3 billion.

We are very pleased with the strong demand for this transaction. It underlines the high level of investor confidence in OLB and the excellent reputation we have established in the national and international covered bond market. For us, this issuance was exciting and a lot of fun. The intensive preparation and the commitment of everyone involved definitely was worth it. We also had great support from our JLMs. We are very content with our debut transaction.

OLB has been making regular appearances on the capital market since 2021 and we will continue and expand on this path. After the successful first issuance at benchmark level, we want to launch a benchmark-size Pfandbrief issuance every 12 to 18 months from now on.