The bonds, with a second opinion on
the qualification of a Social bond from
Vigeo Eiris, were offered through joint
lead managers Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley,
Daiwa and Mizuho.
With yields falling globally, some
investors are anticipating that Japanese
private corporations might also be able
to sell their bonds at negative rates in the
near future.
“There has been chatter that high-rated
corporate bonds may price at negative rates
if the Bank of Japan eases its monetary
policy,” said a domestic asset manager.
“Even without additional easing, some
issuers may be able to sell at negative rates
if they pick the three-year sector.”
› NISSAN GETS GREEN LIGHT FOR BONDS
NISSAN MOTOR, which is still dealing with
the fallout from the arrest of former chair
Carlos Ghosn last November, is making a
comeback in the domestic bond market.
According to DealWatch, IFR’s sister
publication, the automaker hired Mitsubishi
UFJ Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, Merrill Lynch
and Goldman Sachs for a four-tranche
bond offering in maturities of three, five,
seven and 10 years. The size will be about
¥100bn and pricing is expected as early as
September.
Nissan Motor has been absent from the
domestic market since 2016, when it priced
a ¥125bn three-trancher in maturities of
five, seven and 10 years.
Last week, Nissan filed a shelf
registration to issue up to ¥250bn, which
will be effective for two years from August
28.
SYNDICATED LOANS
› CMPC GOES GREEN IN JAPAN LOAN DEBUTChilean pulp and paper company EMPRESAS
CMPC is making its loan market debut in
Japan with a US$100m–$150m five-year
Green loan, the first such borrowing for a
foreign company in the country.
The deal is in accordance with the Green
Loan Principles established by the Loan
Market Association and the Asia Pacific
Loan Market Association.
MUFG is the sole mandated lead arranger
of the loan, which pays an interest margin
of 105bp over Libor.
Responses are due next month. In March
the company held non-deal bank meetings
in Tokyo and Taipei.
The borrowing will help CMPC diversify
its funding sources.
CMPC’s previous loan market visit was in
June 2005 for a US$100m seven-year senior
loan. BBVA was the agent on that deal,
according to LPC data.
CMPC, rated BBB–/BBB (S&P/Fitch), has
forestry and wood pulp operations in Chile,
Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru,
and Uruguay.› BOREALIS EYES MAIDEN NINJA BORROWINGAustrian chemicals company BOREALIS
GROUP is making its loan market debut in
Japan with a US$149m-equivalent five-year
dual-currency borrowing, its first Ninja
financing.
MUFG is the mandated lead arranger of
the deal, which is split into a US$125m
tranche and a ¥2.5bn (US$24m) portionwith interest margins of 100bp and 45bp
over Libor, respectively.
Commitments are due by September 13
with closing expected by the end of that
month.
The borrowing will help Borealis
diversify its funding sources.
In May, Borealis completed a
€200m-equivalent (US$222m) dual-currency
Schuldscheindarlehen (SSD) comprising
€140m and US$70m across five, seven and
10-year tranches on fixed and variable rates
of interest.
Borealis, rated BBB+ (S&P), manufactures
polyolefins, base chemicals, and fertilisers.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala owns 64% of
Borealis, with Austria’s OMV owning the
remaining 36%.› TAKARA LEBEN REIT TAKES OUT LOANTAKARA LEBEN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT is set
to sign a ¥13.4bn multi-tranche loan on
August 30 for real estate acquisitions, the
company said on August 15.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is the
mandated lead arranger, while Aozora Bank,
Hiroshima Bank, Kiyo Bank, Iyo Bank, Mizuho
Bank, Nishi-Nippon City Bank, Resona Bank,
Shinsei Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank
have joined in syndication.
The loan comprises a ¥500m four-year
floating-rate tranche and ¥12.9bn fixed-rate
tranches. The floating-rate portion pays
an interest margin of 50bp over three-
month Tibor, while the fixed-rate portion
has tenors of four years and five years
with margins of 50bp and 60bp over a
benchmark, respectively.
Drawdown is slated for September 3.Berkshire Hathaway eyes yen debut
Bonds Issuer may need to pay a new issue premium to keep coupon above zeroWarren Buffett’s BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, rated
Aa2/AA (Moody’s/S&P), surprised the market
last week by hiring banks for a potential
debut yen bond.
The US conglomerate, which has business
lines across insurance, utilities, rail freight
and manufacturing, mandated Goldman
Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Mizuho
on Monday for a potential benchmark
yen-denominated SEC-registered senior
unsecured bond.
The timing and tenor will depend on
market conditions, but Berkshire is looking
at maturities of five years and longer. The
distribution of the bonds in Japan would be
limited to qualified institutional investors.Bankers away questioned whether the
bonds would draw strong investor demand
and also why Berkshire needs yen, as the
business is focused on the US, though it has
previously issued in euros and sterling.
The yen bonds would have very low
coupons, likely too low for Japanese
investors, because of Berkshire’s strong credit
profile, they said.
“If you look at their US dollar bonds in the
secondary market, their bonds with about six
years to maturity are equivalent to just 10bp
over yen offer-side swaps,” said a banker
away. With five-year yen offer-side swaps
below -0.11% as of Thursday, the coupon
would be below zero.Another banker away calculated that
Berkshire’s 10-year yen bonds would have
a coupon of only 0.05% if interpolated with
its US dollar bonds with maturities of seven
and 20 years. The banker and a Japanese
asset manager told IFR that they think the
coupon needs to be higher than 0.20% to
draw Japanese investor demand, so Berkshire
would need to pay some new issue premium.
The proceeds will be used for general
corporate purposes. Neither the mandate
announcement nor the prospectus said
whether the proceeds would be kept in yen or
swapped into US dollars. Investors expect the
pricing to come in early September.
TAKAHIRO OKAMOTO