Chinese companies remained busy on international bond markets on Friday, with three Hong Kong-listed property developers -- Emperor International, Powerlong Real Estate, and Jiayuan International Group -- each raising funds.
The dollar bond offerings came a day after five other mainland companies also completed debt sales, withdrawing more than $2.2 billion from the market ahead of next week's Asian holidays.
Prior to Friday, 12 Asian insurance firms raised a total of $6.1 billion for the week ended September 8th, up 36% on the $4.5 billion raised in the prior week and the highest weekly level in two months, according to data compiler Dealogic.
"We are seeing significant momentum in the debt capital markets in the region, with good investor appetite for taps, liability management, high yield and investment grade notes," Derek Armstrong, head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse, told FinanceAsia.
"The window is open for quality issuers who want to capitalise on the present conducive market conditions for opportunistic fund raising," he added.
Emperor International
Emperor International Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed company with real estate interests across the city but also in Macau, mainland China, and London, returned to the international bond market for the first time in more than two years, issuing a $200 million five-year unrated note.
Final pricing on the September 2021 bond was fixed at par to yield 4%, after the syndicate said the book was oversubscribed multiple times. Initial guidance was set at 4.25% area.
The closest comparables were Far East Consortium's 3.75% September 2021 bond and Regal Hotel's July 2021 note, which were trading on a yield of 3.88% and 3.87%, respectively.
That suggested that the company controlled by entertainment tycoon Albert Yeung paid a healthy new-issue premium of about 10 to 12 basis points.
Joint bookrunners were Bank of China Hong Kong, Emperor Securities, Guotai Junan International, HSBC and ICBC.
Powerlong Real Estate
Then, on Friday night, high-yield issuer Powerlong Real Estate priced a $200 million five-year non-call three year bond. The mainland Chinese commercial and residential property developer, rated B2/B by Moody's and S&P, garnered $700 million of orders, a syndicate banker on the deal told FinanceAsia.
Final pricing of the Reg S deal was fixed at 99.018% on a coupon of 4.875% to yield 5.1%, according to a term sheet seen by FinanceAsia. The Singapore-listed bond was originally marketed in the low 5% area.
Powerlong last tapped the bond market in November last year with a $200 million maturing in 2018, Dealogic data shows. The group raised $355 through a Hong Kong listing in October 2009.
Powerlong plans to use the new proceeds to refinance its outstanding debt.
A total of 76 investors participated in the transaction, with over 2.7 times oversubscribed. Asian investors were allocated 96% of the deal while European accounts took the remaining 4%. By investor type, funds represented 90%, private banks and banks each took 5%.
The joint bookrunners on its latest transaction were BofA Merrill Lynch, Guotai Junan International, HSBC, Huatai Financial Holdings, and Credit Suisse.
Jiayun International
Unrated developer Jiayun International sold its first offshore bond on Friday, raising $100 million through a two-year non-call one bond.
Pricing of the debut Reg S issue was fixed at par to yield 9.75%, according to a syndicate banker on the deal. Initial guidance was in the high 9% area.
AMTD, Bocom International and Haitong International were joint global coordinators, while Zhongtai Securities was joint bookrunner.
The story has been updated with final stats from first publication
