News
Financing solutions and adaptation to climate change is stoking capital-markets innovation around the world. In New Zealand, increasing forest cover is key to meeting Paris Agreement targets – and local market participants are keen to germinate a specialised financing instrument to support progress.
Liberty Financial (Liberty) has long held the objective of issuing senior-unsecured paper at five-year tenor. The issuer took another step in that direction with its first four-year deal, printed on 18 February.
Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) broke its longest drought of syndicated issuance since it began this method in 2009 with its 19 February transaction. The deal received robust support from offshore and real-money investors.
A surfeit of local and offshore demand for long-dated paper prompted another Australian corporate to execute a 12-year domestic deal. General Property Trust (GPT) says the tenor suited its debt maturity profile and interest from a cornerstone investor prompted its decision to execute.
A favourable basis swap has enabled New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp) to take advantage of a funding opportunity in euros that was well inside its Australian dollar cost of funds. The issuer says there is opportunity in euros but its own clients’ demand constrains supply.
Sydney Airport’s market leadership, and the willingness of US private placement (USPP) investors to provide structural flexibility in transactions, were crucial to the execution of the world’s first sustainability-linked bond (SLB) with two-way pricing. Deal sources are bullish on proliferation of the product.
Western Australian Treasury Corporation (WATC)’s latest transaction shows that banks’ demand for semi-government floating-rate note (FRN) issuance is still evident as they work to fill their high-quality liquid asset (HQLA) requirements.
South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) printed its longest-dated maturity – a 12-year bond – on 13 February, as European investors’ strong participation in semi-government deals continued.
A large maturity and pricing that has moved more in line with global markets allowed World Bank to make its first foray into antipodean markets for 2020 with a New Zealand dollar deal. Domestic balance-sheet support anchored the transaction, lead managers say.
Nonmortgage securitisation for 2020 got under way in January with auto asset-backed securities (ABS) deals from Pepper Group (Pepper) and Liberty Financial (Liberty). Ongoing investor appetite for diversifying collateral in the sector buoyed demand, deal sources say.
The federal government is re-evaluating its plan to facilitate retail access to corporate issuers. However, industry sources doubt that even improvements to the simplified corporate bond regime will encourage supply.
Dexus Finance (Dexus) printed the largest Australian dollar true corporate deal at 12-year tenor on 23 January. Deal sources say a cornerstone investor enabled the issuer to launch confident of securing competitive pricing and liquidity at the extended duration.