Qatar National Bank SAQ is planning to sell US dollar denominated bonds as it continues to become the first Arabic financial institution to have an asset portfolio that exceeds US$100 billion.

The price guidance initially set was at 3.125% on the proposed seven year debt bonds. According to two people familiar with the transaction who chose to spoke on condition of anonymity, the book runners are Qatar National Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Standard Chartered Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, HSBC Holdings Plc and Deutsche Bank AG.

One of the clear goals of the Doha based lender is to expand through acquisitions. Last December, it paid US$1.97 billion for 77% of  the Egyptian subsidiary of Societe Generale SA. 

Aside from the US dollar denominated bonds, the bank also has bonds in Swiss francs, Euros and Hong Kong dollars. Its last sale raised US$1 billion. Currently, the yield for 2018 debt notes is at 2.125% but quickly rose nine basis points when it was traded in the Dubai bourse according to data obtained by Bloomberg.