A quasi-sovereign high-quality name with a stable business in a defensive sector, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp KCRC was always going to attract a reasonable following in a market where there is still a lot of uncertainty about the timing and scale of an economic recovery. Add in the rarity factor that comes from being a double-A-rated government-linked issuer from Hong Kong -- it has been eight years since KCRC was last in the international bond market with a new issue -- and you get an almost perfect mix for a tightly priced deal.
The owner of Hong Kong's above-ground railway network attracted approximately $4.2 billion of demand, which allowed it to sell $750 million worth of...