LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have advised on the first Egyptian-denominated Eurobond offering, worth around $1bn (£486m).

The five-year notes were issued by the Arab Republic of Egypt. This is payable in US dollars but indexed to the local currency – making it the country's second-ever Eurobond issue and the first to be denominated in Egyptian pounds. It comes as Egypt attempts to improve its access to international capital markets.

LeBoeuf's London office advised lead managers JP Morgan Securities and Citi Global Markets, with capital markets partner Camille Abousleiman leading a team including fellow capital markets partner Federico Salinas and associates Patrick Lyons and Jessica Mider.

Abousleiman moved from Dewey Ballantine to head Le-Boeuf's London capital markets team in January and the group has worked on a number of the sovereign bond issues in the Middle East region so far this year, including issues in Lebanon and Morocco.

Abousleiman told Legal Week: "This is the first deal of its kind in Egypt. It will pave the way for the Government and corporates to access the Euro markets and borrow over the long term. Companies have sold equities before but not so much debt."

Skadden represented the Egyptian Government on the deal, with London finance partner James Healy leading a team in New York and London, including City-based corporate finance partner Rick Ely. Skadden has a longstanding relationship with the Government and last year advised on a US issue guaranteed by the US Agency for International Development.