COUNTRY REPORT CHINAlead arranger and bookrunner of the
financing, which was launched in April at
a US$200m size with a US$100m greenshoe.
Signing has not yet taken place.
Separately, Agile signed a MOP$1.854bn-
equivalent (US$230m) two-year bilateral
loan on June 27, according to a stock
exchange filing on the same day. The
pataca deal can also be drawn in Hong
Kong dollars, and pays an interest margin
of 240bp over Hibor.
The US$235m loan paid an all-in pricing
of 398bp based on an interest margin of
300bp over Libor and an average life of 2.5
years.
Last December, Agile raised a HK$1.75bn
(then US$224m) three-year term loan from
five banks. ICBC Macau was the MLAB
of the deal, which paid a top-level all-in
pricing of 538bp based on a margin of
380bp over Hibor and an average life of
2.65 years.
For the latest financing, Agile is the
borrower, while its wholly owned BVI-
incorporated subsidiary, Eastern Supreme
Group Holdings, is the guarantor.
Funds are for refinancing and working
capital.
Agile, which has projects in China,
Hong Kong and Malaysia, is rated Ba3/BB
(Moody’s/S&P).
For full allocations, see http://www.ifrasia.com.
› STANCHART MOVES FAST TO ADOPT LPR
Standard Chartered Bank (China) has swung
into action within days of China’s central
bank announcing a new prime rate
mechanism and completed eight trade-
finance loans based on the benchmark.
The loans are for a total of Rmb31m for
companies, including SUNING.COM, the lender
said in a press release last Wednesday.
Signing of the facilities took place last
Tuesday, the same day as the new Loan
Prime Rate made its debut in the domestic
market.
“The bank is implementing the new
measure in various business lines and
promoting the loan base rate in order
to support the interest rate reform and
better serve the economy,” said Jerry
Zhang, executive vice chairman and chief
executive officer at Standard Chartered
Bank (China).
Citigroup and StanChart are the two
foreign institutions among 18 banks that
will participate in setting the LPR, which
will be announced on the 20th of every
month starting this month.
StanChart arch-rival HSBC was not
included in the group of banks, in what
was seen as a snub from the Chinese
authorities given strained relations
after HSBC provided information to US
authorities as part of their probe into
telecommunications giant Huawei.
On August 17, the People’s Bank of China
said it would use the LPR as the reference
rate for new loans with the aim of helping
steer corporate borrowing costs lower and
support a slowing economy suffering from
a trade war with the United States.› GEELY UNIT LOOKS OFFSHORE FOR CLUBGENIUS AUTO FINANCE, a subsidiary of Hong
Kong-listed Geely Automobile Holdings, has
self-arranged a Rmb1.4bn two-year offshore
loan with seven banks participating.
The seven banks joining as mandated
lead arrangers with equal commitments are
Fubon Bank (Hong Kong), HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo,
Mizuho Bank, MUFG, Nanyang Commercial Bank
and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Signing of the loan took place earlier
this month.The latest borrowing follows a
Rmb1.04bn dual-tranche onshore term loan
Genius Auto Finance completed in July.
Bangkok Bank (China), Intesa SanpaoloShanghai branch, Korea Development
Bank Shanghai branch, MUFG (China)
and Standard Chartered (China) were the
MLABs of the July loan, which comprises
a Rmb890m two-year tranche A and a
Rmb150m one-year tranche B with average
lives of 1.786 and 0.916 years, respectively.
Lenders were offered top-level all-in
pricing of 111% and 110% of the PBoC rates,
respectively, based on upfront fees of 25bp
and 20bp for tranches A and B.
Geely Automobile Holdings owns 80%
of Genius Auto Finance, while BNP Paribas
Personal Finance holds the remainder.EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS
› XIMALAYA PICKS IPO BANKSXIMALAYA FM, China’s largest online audio
platform, has picked Goldman Sachs, JP
Morgan and Morgan Stanley to arrange an
IPO of US$500m–$1bn, said people with
knowledge of the matter.Singyes wins support for RSA
Restructuring Solar engineering company still faces winding-up petitionChina Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings
said holders of 98.4% of its offshore
bonds have signed a restructuring support
agreement for its debt restructuring proposal.
The announcement came days after
Singyes said Deutsche Bank had filed a
winding-up petition in the Hong Kong High
Court over a debt of US$6.3m. The petition
will be heard on October 2.
The Hong Kong-listed curtain wall
installation and solar engineering company
defaulted on its offshore bonds in October
last year.
It has US$155.26m 6.75% senior notes
due 2018, US$260m 7.95% senior notes due
2019 and Rmb96m (US$14m) 5% convertible
bonds due 2019.
Singyes has offered offshore bondholders a
combination of cash and new bonds.
Under the proposal, creditors will receive
a proportional share of US$41.4m in cash,
based on the amount of bonds they hold, plus
new three-year bonds paying a cash coupon
of 2% plus payment-in-kind interest of 4%.
The new bonds will repay holders 40% of
the principal amount plus any accrued PIK
interest six months before maturity.
Creditors who signed the RSA will also
receive a proportional share of US$8.6m in
cash.
The amount of new bonds issued will beequal to the principal and accrued interest on
the outstanding bonds, minus the US$50m in
cash payments.
The offer came after Water Development
(HK) Holding, a subsidiary of Shuifa
Group, agreed to subscribe to HK$1.6bn
(US$232.6m) of shares in Singyes, giving
it a 66.92% stake after the subscription.
Shandong Provincial State-owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission
controls Shuifa Group, which is involved in
water projects, environmental management
and renewable energy.
Shuifa Group has a partial stake in Water
Development (HK) Holding but will increase
it to 100% by the time the share subscription
happens.
The proposed restructuring is expected to
be implemented through parallel schemes
of arrangement in Bermuda and Hong Kong,
with completion expected by the end of this
year.
“The company is confident that the petition
will not have any material impact on the
company’s ongoing restructuring efforts,”
Singyes said in a stock exchange filing on
August 9.
Admiralty Harbour Capital is financial
adviser to the company. Kirkland & Ellis is
legal adviser.
DANIEL STANTON