Two of Asia's largest commercial banks returned to the international debt markets late last week with a dollar-denominated deal for Bank of East Asia and a Euro deal for Korean lender Woori Bank.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs priced a new Reg-S only $500 million 10-year non-call five-year deal for Bank of East Asia on Friday December 1. The deal marks the return to the senior bond markets for Hong Kong's largest independent bank since it similarly raised a $550 million from a 10-year non-call 5-year issue in 2001. That deal priced to yield at 7.622% or 187.5bp over Libor.
The new BBBBaa1 rated deal was...