COUNTRY REPORT HONG KONGMonday afternoon, the company said
“an announcement in relation to inside
information” was pending.
The trading halt comes less than
six months after Youyuan signed the
US$135.5m loan in March. Mandated lead
arranger and bookrunner HSBC brought five
banks into the financing, which refinanced
a US$165m 3.5-year amortising loan signed
in May 2016 and was also for working
capital. The top-level all-in pricing was
395bp, including the early bird fee, based
on an interest margin of 320bp over Libor
or Hibor and an average life of 2.975 years.
› GAW CAPITAL CLOSES BUYOUT LOAN
Real estate-focused private equity firm
Gaw Capital Partners has wrapped up
a HK$2.81bn senior secured loan for its
proposed acquisition of an office tower in
Hong Kong.
Mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners
and underwriters HSBC and Standard
Chartered Bank brought in 11 lenders in
syndication. Signing by transfer was slated
for August 19.
The three-year financing, which
comprises a HK$2.61bn tranche A for the
acquisition, and a HK$200m tranche B for
funding the debt service reserve account,
offered a top-level all-in pricing of 163.33bp
based on an interest margin of 130bp over
Hibor.
The loan’s security is 625 King’s Road,
a 26-storey commercial building that is
being acquired. The borrowing entity is
WINGO.
Jacko Rise Pte Ltd, a vehicle owned by
Gaw Capital’s Gateway Fund VI, agreed to
buy 625 King’s Road for HK$4.75bn.
For full allocations, see http://www.ifrasia.com.› UA FINANCE SCRAPS US DOLLAR FACILITYUNITED ASIA FINANCE is scrapping a US dollar
loan of an unspecified size and is instead
looking to increase a HK$1.6bn borrowing
after receiving a strong response.
Mandated lead arrangers and
bookrunners Mizuho Bank and Standard
Chartered had launched both financings in
June.
The US dollar loan, targeted at Japanese
lenders, had sought commitments on four
levels compared with three for the Hong
Kong dollar portion.
Pricing on both financings was the same- the top-level all-in pricing was 215bp
based on an interest margin of 190bp over
Hibor and an average life of three years.
Allocations are currently being finalised.
The loan is partially for refinancing,
while the remainder is new money.
UA Finance last tapped the loan
markets in July 2018 when it completed a
HK$4.72bn-equivalent financing that paid
a top-level all-in pricing of 220bp based
on the same margin and average life as
the latest loan. MLABs Mizuho, StanChart
and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank
brought in 18 other banks, including
three Japanese lenders that lent US
dollars.
On June 27, UA Finance completed a
buyback of its own shares representing
a 7.27% stake from Orix Asia Capital, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Orix
Corp. Hong Kong-listed Sun Hung Kai &
Co now owns 62.74% in UA Finance, up
from 58.18%. The other shareholders of UA
Finance are Itochu Corp and UA Finance’s
CEO and managing director Akihiro
Nagahara.› KAM HING COMPLETES HK$1.3BN REFIHong Kong-listed textile manufacturer
Kam Hing International Holdings signed
a HK$1.3bn 3.5-year amortising term loan
last Monday, according to a stock exchange
announcement.
HSBC is the facility agent of the loan,
which was self-arranged.
The borrower is Kam Hing International’s
wholly owned subsidiary KAM HING PIECE
WORKS, while the parent and two of its other
subsidiaries are providing guarantees.
Repayments will take place through four
semi-annual equal instalments after a two-
year grace period. The average life is 2.75
years.
Ownership covenants require either
Tai Chin Chun or Tai Chin Wen to be
chairman of Kam Hing International and
both of them to maintain management
control over the company. Also the two
men along with their respective wives,CK Hutchison in talks for Wind Tre takeout
Loans Group reorganising European, Hong Kong and Macau telecom operationsHong Kong-listed CK HUTCHISON HOLDINGS is in
early discussions with relationship banks for
a takeout financing to replace a €10.40bn
(US$11.52bn) bridge loan relating to a
reorganisation of its European, Hong Kong
and Macau telecom operations.
The takeout is expected to come through
loans and bonds and is likely to be wrapped
up in the coming months.
Citigroup and HSBC are said to have
provided the 18-month bridge loan in July
with the aim of refinancing Italian mobile
operator WIND TRE’s €10bn high-yield debt
pile. Wind Tre’s refinancing is expected to be
completed in the next few weeks.
The move follows CK Hutchison’s
announcement the same month that it
had formed a new wholly-owned telecom
holding company to consolidate its telecom
operations in Europe and HutchisonTelecommunications Hong Kong Holdings.
CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings is
the new holding company. HTHKH is listed in
Hong Kong and operates in Hong Kong and
Macau, while Wind Tre is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of CK Hutchison.
A new telecom infrastructure company,
CK Hutchison Networks Holdings, will also
be set up for the group’s 28,500 telecom
towers in Europe with an option to include a
further 9,300 sites in Asia, according to CK
Hutchison’s announcement. CK Hutchison
Telecom will be the sole owner of this new
telecom infrastructure company and will
manage it separately.
Ratings agencies have welcomed the move
to refinance Wind Tre’s high-yield debt. In
early August, Moody’s and Fitch placed Wind
Tre on review for upgrade, including potential
for a multi-notch upgrade from the latteragency. S&P said that successful refinancing
may result in an upgrade by two or more
notches. Wind Tre is currently rated rated B1/
BB−/BB− (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch).
Around the same time the three agencies
also assigned first-time ratings of Baa1/A−/
BBB+ (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch) to CK Hutchison
Telecom, lower than the A2/A/A− ratings of
parent CK Hutchison.
Wind Tre’s bonds rallied on the
announcement of the refinancing.
Wind Tre was formed by the merger
in November 2016 of VimpelCom’s Wind
Telecomunicazioni, now known as VEON Ltd,
and CK Hutchison’s H3G. Last September,
CK Hutchison completed its purchase of the
remaining 50% stake that it did not already
own in Wind Tre from VEON for €2.45bn in
cash.
PRAKASH CHAKRAVARTI, APPLE LAM, APPLE LI