Joint lead managers HSBC and UBS priced a $300 million senior fixed rate bond issue for Citic Ka Wah Bank yesterday November 10. The key achievement of the five-year deal was its pricing through the more established and liquid Korean curve.
Pricing came at 99.582% on a coupon of 4.25% to yield 4.344%. This equates to 82bp over Treasuries or 36bp over Libor. Fees were 20bp.
Given how rarely Hong Kong banks access the senior bond market, the main comparables came from Korea. Citic Ka Wah has a Baa2BBB rating Fitch, while Woori Bank has a one-notch higher rating from Moody's of Baa1.
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