COUNTRY REPORT SOUTH KOREAUS$1bn from 39 accounts. Singapore
investors bought 96% of the notes. As for
investor types, a combined 83% of the
buyers were insurers, fund managers and
government institutions, while 17% were
private banks and banks.
The notes are secured against Parkway
Parade, an office and retail development in
Singapore.
The notes will be issued off a S$500m
secured multi-currency MTN programme.
Bank of China, DBS, OCBC and UOB were
joint bookrunners.
Prime Asset held investor meetings
through the same banks in August last
year, though no issue materialised.
› FRASERS CENTREPOINT TAPS 2026S
FRASERS CENTREPOINT tapped its 4.25% notes
due April 21 2026 for a further S$30m, with
OCBC as sole global coordinator.
The reopening priced at 103.435% of face
value and took the total outstanding to
S$280m.
The notes will be issued off Frasers
Centrepoint’s S$3bn multicurrency
debt-issuance programme, through FCL
Treasury.
SYNDICATED LOANS
› GALLANT WORKS ON FINANCING
Singapore-listed holding company GALLANT
VENTURE has launched a S$405m (US$299m)
five-year loan into senior syndication.
Standard Chartered is the sole mandated
lead arranger and bookrunner on the
facility, split into a S$250m term loan
and a S$155m revolving credit. The term
loan amortises with quarterly payments,
resulting in a four-year average life.
The interest margin is 435bp per
annum over Sibor. Funds will be used
for refinancing and general corporate
purposes.
Gallant Venture, via subsidiary
Batamindo Investment Cakrawala,
completed a US$183m-equivalent five-
year loan in February 2016. StanChart was
the original MLAB on the secured loan,
while CIMB joined as MLA before launch
into general syndication. That financing
comprises a S$140m tranche A, a tranche
B, split into S$42.25m and US$18m pieces,
and a S$48.5m tranche C. The margin
on tranche A is 510bp over Sibor, while
tranches B and C pay 570bp.
Indonesia’s Salim Group and Singapore’s
SembCorp Industries jointly own Gallant
Venture, an investment holding company
active in the popular Indonesian resorts of
Batam and Bintan neighbouring Singapore.
Headquartered in Singapore, Gallant has
interests in industrial parks, utilities, resort
operations and property development in
Batam and Bintan.SOUTH KOREA
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
› KHFC HIRES FOR COVERED BONDSKOREA HOUSING FINANCE CORP, rated Aa2/AA–
(Moody’s/Fitch), has mandated five banks
for a proposed offering of US dollar five-
year covered bonds.
BNP Paribas, Citigroup, ING and Standard
Chartered are joint bookrunners, as well as
joint lead managers with Mirae Asset Daewoo.
Meetings will be held in Asia, Europe and
the US from Monday, ahead of a potential
Reg S/144A/3c7 issue.
The cover pool contains W709bn
(US$624m) of fixed-rate mortgage loans,
with a weighted-average remaining term
of 294.17 months, according to a Moody’s
research note. Moody’s has assigned the
proposed bonds a provisional Aa1 rating.
In its previous dollar covered issue last
October, KHFC sold US$500m of five-year
notes at US Treasuries plus 85bp.
KHFC is a quasi-government non-bank
financial institution, which provides
housing loans.TAIWAN
SYNDICATED LOANS
› PRICING OUT ON WARBA MAIDENPricing has emerged on a US$250m three-
year debut loan, likely to be syndicated in
Asia, for sharia-compliant Kuwaiti lender
WARBA BANK.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Bank ABC,
Boubyan Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank are
mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners
on the loan.
Based on an interest margin of 145bp
over Libor, MLAs committing US$30m or
more will receive an upfront fee of 60bp,
while lead arrangers joining with US$20m–
$29m will earn a 45bp fee and arrangers
coming in for US$10m–$19m get a 30bp
fee. The deadline for responses is October
15.
Funds are for general corporate purposes.The loan is part of Warba’s latest
fundraising exercise after it issued in
March of US$250m of Tier 1 sukuk, as
it seeks to boost its capital ratios and
improve liquidity buffers, Reuters has
reported.
Moody’s reaffirmed last Tuesday affirmed
Warba’s Baa2 rating and maintained its
outlook at stable, citing the “very high
probability of government support in case
of need”. The government of Kuwait has
31% direct and indirect ownership in the
bank, Moody’s has said.
Warba has participated as a lender in
a number of US dollar sharia-compliant
deals this year. These included a US$25m
contribution as part of a US$236m Islamic
loan to Turkey’s Ziraat Participation Bank,
US$50m to a US$400m sukuk issue for
Dubai’s Meraas Holding, and US$80m as
part of a US$300m Islamic loan for Kuwait’s
Aviation Lease and Finance.› TCC SOUNDS FOR MORE FUNDSConglomerate TAIWAN CEMENT is sounding
the market for a NT dollar loan and plans
to send out a request for proposals to
relationship banks in the coming weeks.
Funds are to refinance a NT$14bn
(US$465m) five-year loan signed in January
2013 and for investment purposes. Bank
of China Taipei, CTBC Bank, Hua Nan
Commercial Bank, Mega International
Commercial Bank Taipei Fubon
Commercial Bank and Taiwan Cooperative
Bank were the mandated lead arrangers
and bookrunners on that loan, which
offered an interest margin of 66bp over the
secondary CP rate with a pre-tax interest-
rate floor set at 1.5%.
In August 2016, TCC International
Holdings (TCCIH) raised a US$540m five-
year loan from 17 lenders. DBS, First
Commercial Bank, Hua Nan and Mega
were the MLABs on that loan, which
offered a margin of 115bp over three-
month or six-month Libor. The borrower
would pay any excess interest rate beyond
a 35bp difference between TAIFX and
Libor.
In April, TCC announced a proposal to
privatise TCCIH and delist it from the Hong
Kong stock exchange through a scheme of
arrangement. TCC offered to buy 36.95%
of shares in TCCIH at HK$3.6 (US$0.46) per
common share.
It also offered to swap shares with
TCCIH shareholders at a ratio of 0.42 TCC
shares per TCCIH common share. TCCIH
expects to withdraw the listing with effect
from November 20. TCC is the largest
shareholder of TCCIH, with a 63.05% stake,
while local peer Chia Hsin Cement has a
9.71% interest.