COUNTRY REPORT THAILANDFunds are for working capital purposes.
In March 2015, Fubon Securities raised a
NT$5bn three-year senior loan. Agricultural
Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa Commercial
Bank, Far Eastern International Bank, First
Commercial Bank and Mega International
Commercial Bank were the MLABs on that
deal, which offered a margin of 70bp over
Taibor.
THAILAND
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
› TPIPP FUELS BOND PLANS
TPI POLENE POWER plans to sell up to Bt25bn
(US$752.5m) of bonds to fund an expansion
of its electricity producing capacity.
The Thai company will require
shareholder approval for the issuance, and
plans to hold an extraordinary general
meeting in September on the matter.
TPIPP aims to sell the bonds in various
structures and currencies with tenors
capped at 10 years.
Bankers say CIMB Thailand is likely a
frontrunner to act as a lead bookrunner for
the bond sale, given the bank’s role as sole
lead in previous deals for TPIPP’s parent
company.
TPIPP is owned by cement producer TPI
Polene, which is rated BBB+ by Tris. The
power producer is preparing to take part in
government tenders for a number of waste-
to-energy power plants. It is also seeking to
expand into overseas markets in Myanmar,
Vietnam and the Philippines.› FRASERS MAKES RETURN FOR BAHTFRASERS PROPERTY HOLDINGS THAILAND has raised
Bt3.5bn from a sale of four and 10-year
bonds.
The Bt2.3bn four-year tranche was priced
on August 9 at par to yield 3.02% and the
Bt1.2bn 10-year tranche was priced at
3.85%. Pricing was close to the wide ends of
guidance, which was shown at 2.82%-3.02%
and 3.72%-3.88% for the respective tranches.
This is the company’s second bond
offering this year, following a Bt5bn three-
tranche issue in March that priced three-
year notes at 2.19%, five-year notes at 2.55%
and 10-year notes at 3.54%.
Bangkok Bank , Bank of Ayudhya and
Government Savings Bank were joint lead
managers and underwriters for the deal,which settled last Friday. Frasers Property
Holdings is a subsidiary of Singapore-based
real estate developer Frasers Property
(formerly Frasers Centrepoint).VIETNAM
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
› MOODY'S UPGRADES VIETNAMThe SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM saw little
change in its offshore bonds after Moody’s
upgraded it to Ba3 from B1 on the evening
of August 10.
The sovereign’s 2024 bonds were quoted
last Monday morning at a cash price of
101.4, implying a yield of 4.5%, up from
101.2 on the morning of August 10.
Moody’s said the upgrade was
underpinned by strong growth potential as
the country moves up the manufacturing
value chain, added to its diminishing
reliance on foreign currency debt and long
average maturities. The outlook is stable.
S&P and Fitch rate Vietnam BB– and BB,
respectively, both with a stable outlook.Iceberg urges Noble stakeholders to sue
Restructuring Long-time critic meets with law firms, holders of securitiesIceberg Research has called for holders
of NOBLE GROUP securities to join it in suing
the commodities trader, ahead of a crucial
restructuring vote.
Iceberg, an anonymous independent
research house and a long-time critic of
Noble’s accounting practices, said it had held
talks with law firms and securities holders
over potential legal action, but declined to
name any of the parties.
It said it was offering to provide
investors technical help in understanding
the company’s financial statements.
Iceberg said it did not hold Noble’s
securities.
Noble, which has consistently refuted
Iceberg’s claims, is to hold a shareholder vote
on its proposed restructuring on August 27
and needs a majority approval to go aheadwith the scheme. Creditors holding 86% of
Noble’s senior debt have agreed to support
the proposal, which will give creditors
a mix of debt and equity, while existing
shareholders will have a 20% stake in the
restructured entity.
Investors who vote for the scheme of
arrangement will limit their rights to sue the
company in the future.
”The legal release, designed to protect
a long list of organisations from future
lawsuits, is extremely wide, and very
unusual,” said Iceberg.
Noble has said that holders of over 30%
of its shares had already agreed to vote in
favour. These shareholders are Goldilocks
Investment, Richard Elman’s family
investment vehicle Noble Holdings, and a
consortium including Value Partners andPinpoint Asset Management.
If the proposal does not win majority
approval, Noble said it would file for
administration in an English court. Earlier
this year it moved its headquarters to London
from Hong Kong.
Last Tuesday, Noble Group reported a loss
of US$128m for the second quarter ended
June 30, and US$200m for the first half.
This was down from a US$1.88bn loss in
the first half of 2017 and broadly in line with
expectations.
The commodities trader spent US$94.6m
on restructuring costs in Q2. It said its
access to financing affected its performance,
citing “ongoing constraints on liquidity and
availability of competitive trade finance to
support operations”.
DANIEL STANTON