would push its free float below the 5%
mark. The aim of the follow-on offer is to
increase the free float and to fund capital
expenditure.
Philippine companies must have a
minimum free float of 15%.
SMPFC is currently in the process of
hiring banks for the offer.
› MITSUBISHI SELLS AYALA BLOCK
MITSUBISHI has sold an upsized Ps7.94bn
block of AYALA shares at the bottom of an
indicative price range of Ps934–Ps964.
The Japanese trading house disposed
of 8.5m shares, or 1.37% of the Philippine
property group’s capital, as opposed to the
originally planned 6.2m.
Around 40 accounts participated and
the top 10 were allocated two-thirds of the
shares.
The final price represented a 7.5%
discount to the pre-deal close of Ps1,010.
Ayala shares closed 7.2% lower at Ps937 on
the Philippine Stock Exchange last Tuesday.
Before the stake sale, Mitsubishi owned
10.15% of Ayala.
There is a 90-day lock-up period on the
vendor.
UBS was the sole bookrunner.SINGAPORE
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
› ASCENDAS INDIA RAISES YENSingapore-listed property company ASCENDAS
INDIA TRUST has sold ¥5bn (US$47m) of
five-year bonds at 0.67375%, with Mizuho
Securities Asia as a dealer.
Proceeds from the notes, which will
settle on April 10, will be used to refinance
loans, support construction financing and
meet general corporate needs.
The trust, which owns information
technology parks in India, counts
Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek
Holdings as a major shareholder with a
22% stake.› LTA TAPS 2048S FOR S$300MLAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE last
Thursday raised S$300m (US$228.5m)
through a tap of its recently priced 3.35%
30-year bonds due 2048.
The reopening priced at par, in line with
guidance. The tap stemmed from reverse
enquiries, reflecting good appetite for
the long duration, despite expectations of
future rate increases.
The new notes will settle on March 29
and will be fungible with the S$900m 30-
year bonds, priced at par on March 12.
DBS and OCBC were joint lead managers
and bookrunners on the tap. The unrated
notes will be issued off a S$12bn multi-
currency MTN programme.
Proceeds will be used to fund LTA’s
land transport infrastructure development
projects.› CW GROUP EXPLORES BONDSCW GROUP HOLDINGS is exploring the issuance
of Singapore dollar bonds to refinance
S$75m of 7% notes due on June 25.
The Hong Kong-based provider of
precision engineering solutions has been
meeting fixed-income investors, via sole
lead DBS, to provide updates on its business
and financial health and, at the same time,
obtain feedback on the potential issue.
The refinancing comes at a time when
investor appetite for high-yield credits has
waned significantly since the 2018s were
sold in 2015. Even at the time, the company
had to offer a very generous rebate of
S$1.00 to entice private banks. Rebates to
private banks in Singapore are now capped
at 25 cents per S$100 face value.
Subsidiary CW Advanced Technologies
issued the existing 2018s, while parent CW
Group was the guarantor.SYNDICATED LOANS
› PUMA REFINANCING HITS GENERALSingapore-based PUMA ENERGY HOLDINGS, rated
Ba2/BB (Moody’s/Fitch), has launched a
US$1.1175bn dual-tranche refinancing into
general syndication.
The mid-and-downstream oil company
hired ANZ, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi
Bank, ICBC London, ING Bank, MUFG, Natixis,
Nedbank London, Rand Merchant Bank, Societe
Generale, Standard Bank of South Africa and
Unicredit Bank as mandated lead arrangers
and bookrunners.
The facility comprises a US$467.5m
one-year revolving credit tranche A and a
US$650m three-year term loan tranche B.
Tranche A, split further into a US$67.5mNoble defaults, faces lawsuits
Restructuring Commodities trader faces two suits as it works to reach debt accordNOBLE GROUP missed a bond redemption
last week and was hit by two lawsuits, as it
continued to work to restructure its debt.
The commodities trader missed the
redemption payment for its US$379m 3.625%
bonds on March 20, placing it in default.
Holders of around 50% of its senior debt have
signed a restructuring-support agreement,
under which they cannot take steps to wind
up the company.
Holders of a combined 25% of the 2018
notes will need to make a request to the
trustee to begin winding-up proceedings
against the company. Noble said it believed
that the chances of that happening were
low, due to the time and cost involved, and
revealed it had been advised that a court
would probably adjourn such proceedings
until the restructuring was completed.
Noble also faced two separate legal
claims. On Wednesday, shareholder
Goldilocks Investment filed a lawsuit against
the company and certain of its executives,
including founder Richard Elman and
chairman Paul Brough, alleging that the
past and present executives breached their
fiduciary duties.
Noble said it was consulting its legal
advisers and intended to “vigorously resist”
Goldilocks’ allegations and claims.The other people named in the writ are
William Randall, CEO of Noble; Jeffrey Frase,
former co-CEO; Louis Tang, former chief
accounting officer and group finance director;
and Paul Jackaman, group chief financial
officer.
Abu Dhabi-based investment group
Goldilocks built up an 8.2% shareholding in
Noble in early to mid-2017. It stands to be
heavily diluted if a proposed restructuring
scheme goes ahead.
As part of the suit, Goldilocks is seeking to
claim on behalf of other Noble shareholders
the US$169.4m in remuneration paid to
the board and management between 2011
and 2017, and the difference between book
values and the amount received for certain
transactions.
The same day, Noble announced that
Richard Elman, the founder of the company,
who stepped down as chairman in May 2017,
had resigned as non-executive director.
On Friday, Noble Group said Atlas
Resources, an Indonesian coal producer, had
filed a lawsuit against it in Indonesia seeking
compensation in excess of US$260m.
The commodities trader said it had not been
served with a writ and was not aware of the
grounds, but intended to defend any claim.
DANIEL STANTON