Caterpillar makes dim sum return with $356 million deal

Demand for new bond issues denominated in renminbi remains strong despite jitters in the credit markets. Possible contagion from Greece and Europe’s still far from resolved debt crisis has pushed yield spreads wider in both high-grade and high-yield dollar bond markets, but borrowers are still able to tap into Asia’s burgeoning offshore renminbi, or dim sum, market.

Clearly, too, better quality companies can raise cash at a competitive rate. Yesterday, Caterpillar managed to raise Rmb2.3 billion $356 million for two-year money at an interest rate well inside the 2% it had to pay on its first bond a Rmb1 billion two-year deal managed by Goldman Sachs and issued in...