COUNTRY REPORT CHINAinvolved in plans for the joint development
of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
In July, the company sold €400m
(US$474m) of three-year euro-denominated
bonds.
› YUZHOU PRINTS US$300M PERPS
YUZHOU PROPERTIES (B1/BB–/BB–) drew final
orders in excess of US$850m from 56
accounts for US$300m of senior unsecured
perpetual non-call five securities.
The Reg S notes, with a B1 Moody’s
rating, were priced at par to yield 5.375%,
well inside initial guidance of 5.75% area.
If the notes are not called after five years,
the distribution rate will reset to the initial
spread of 352.7bp over five-year Treasuries
plus a 500bp step-up.
Asia took 90% of the bonds and Europe
got 10%. In terms of investor types, 55%
were fund managers and asset managers,
23% were banks, 14% were private banks,
and 8% were securities companies and
other investors.
The Chinese real-estate company plans to
use proceeds for debt refinancing and for
general working capital purposes.
BOC International , Citigroup , Credit Suisse ,
HSBC , Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) ,
Industrial Bank’s Hong Kong branch , Haitong
International and Yuzhou Financial were joint
global coordinators, joint lead managers
and joint bookrunners.› QPI PRICES 363-DAY NOTESQINGHAI PROVINCIAL INVESTMENT GROUP (QPI), rated
BB–/BB (S&P/Dagong HK), priced US$300m
of 363-day US dollar senior unsecured
bonds at par to yield 6.30%.
Proceeds from the Reg S unrated bonds,
its third US dollar offering this year, will be
for debt refinancing and general corporate
purposes.
Haitong International and Haitong Bank
were joint global coordinators, as well as
joint lead managers and joint bookrunners
with VTB Capital and Orient Securities (Hong
Kong).
The state-owned enterprise, based in
north-western Qinghai province, is activeGreen bond debut for ICBC Luxembourg
Bonds Issue is first from a Chinese bank aligned with both international and PRC standardsINDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA ,
Luxembourg branch, rated A1 (Moody’s),
yesterday printed debut US$2.15bn triple-
tranche dual-currency Green bonds.
The deal, which attracted final orders
of US$3.4bn and saw European investors
take a large chunk of the notes, was the first
from a Chinese lender with a Green Bond
Framework aligned with both international
and Chinese standards.
ICBC was also the first Chinese bank to
receive a “Dark Green” second opinion from
the Center for International Climate and
Environmental Research, the highest score
on the Cicero scale.
The state-run bank priced US$450m
three-year US dollar floating-rate notes at
three-month Libor plus 77bp and US$400m
2.875% US dollar five-year fixed-rate notes
99bp wide of Treasuries. A €1.1bn (US$1.3bn)
three-year euro-denominated floating-rate
tranche priced 55bp over three-month
Euribor.
The euro tranche represents the largest
euro-denominated bond offering by a
Chinese issuer in 2017 and the largest ever by
a Chinese commercial bank.
“The deal came out within the last window
ahead of China’s week-long National Day
Holiday and the 19th National Congress in
October and has drawn strong demand from
investors, especially the three-year euro
tranche,” a banker on the deal said.
All tranches were priced at the tight end of
final guidance and well inside initial guidance
of three-month Libor plus 100bp area,
Treasuries plus 120bp area, and three-month
Euribor plus 75bp area, respectively.
The three-year dollar floating-rate noteswere priced tighter than CreditSights’ fair
value estimate but the five-year fixed-rate
notes were wider. The research firm saw fair
value of three-month Libor plus 80bp and
Treasuries plus 94bp for the two tranches,
respectively. It didn’t gave fair value on the
euro tranche.
ICBC’s Green Reg S bonds, with an expected
rating of A1 from Moody’s, are certified by the
Climate Bond Standards board.
Proceeds will be used to finance eligible
projects in renewable energy, energy
efficiency, low carbon or low emission
transport, sustainable water and wastewater
management.
The transaction took place while
Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance Pierre
Gramegna was in China for high-level
bilateral meetings, including with China’s
Minister of Finance Xiao Jie and People’s
Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
Luxembourg said in a press release that
the official visit demonstrated a commitment
to boost cooperation in climate finance.
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange and
Shanghai Stock Exchange expanded their
cooperation by signing an addendum to an
existing memorandum of understanding
to launch the first “Green Bond Channel”
between China and Luxembourg, which
enables Shanghai-listed Green bonds to be
displayed on Luxembourg Green Exchange.
ICBC’s Green senior unsecured bonds will
be listed on Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
The three-year floating-rate US dollar
tranche attracted orders of more than
US$660m over 47 accounts. Of the notes,
74% went to Europe and 26% to Asia. In
terms of investor types, banks and privatebanks bought 36%, fund managers took 27%,
sovereign wealth funds 14%, corporates 17%,
and insurers 6%.
Orders for the five-year fixed-rate dollar
tranche were over US$610m from 32
accounts. Of the notes, 84% went to Asia and
16% to Europe. In terms of investor types,
83% went to banks and private banks, 14% to
fund managers, and 3% to other investors.
For the three-year euro-denominated
floater, orders were in excess of €1.8bn
across 82 accounts. Of the notes, 71% went to
Europe and 29% to Asia. In terms of investor
types, fund managers took 56%, banks and
private banks bought 26%, corporates 8%,
sovereign wealth funds 7%, insurers and
other investors took the rest.
The bonds were mixed in secondary
trading, with the dollar tranches traded
tighter while the euro tranche traded wider.
“I’ve wanted to buy the dollar tranches
yesterday but gave up as the pricing was too
tight for me. Though, they traded better than
what I’ve expected,” a trader said.
The three-year dollar floating-rate notes
traded 7bp tighter and five-year dollar fixed-
rate notes 4bp tighter, according to the
trader. The three-year euro floater traded
4bp wider.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Credit
Agricole , HSBC and ICBC (Asia) were joint
global coordinators on the transaction.
The four banks were also joint bookrunners
and joint lead managers with BNP Paribas ,
Citigroup , ICBC International , ICBC Standard
Bank , SEB , Societe Generale and UBS.
Credit Agricole and HSBC were joint green
structuring advisers.
CAROL CHAN