News
On October 13, Colonial Holding Company (Colonial Holding) (A by S&P), Commonwealth Bank of Australia's wholly owned subsidiary, printed A$250 million (US$188 million) in a new January 2020-maturity transaction. Initial price guidance on the transaction was in the range of 120 to 125 basis points over three-month bank bill swap rate (BBSW).
The domestic senior transaction mandated by Bank of Queensland (BOQ) (A-/A3/A-) on October 12 launched and priced on October 13. The transaction priced inside nitial price guidance of 120 basis points over three-month bank bill swap rate (BBSW).
On October 13, APA Group (APA)'s (BBB/Baa2) wholly owned subsidiary, APT pipelines, printed A$200 million (US$150.8 million) in a new, seven-year domestic deal. The transaction priced in line with the minimum volume expectations and initial price guidance - of 180 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
Province of Manitoba (Manitoba) (AA-/Aa2) has priced a A$50 million (US$37.6 million) increase to its June 2026 Kangaroo bond, an October 13 announcement revealed. The tap priced in line with indicative price guidance at 79 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
In the wake of Chorus's inaugural offshore deal in its new guise, the issuer says the scale provided by international markets was necessary to satisfy its funding requirements. While intermediaries acknowledge that European QE dynamics may have had some effect on demand, they say solid support for Chorus was also due to the issuer's own credit story.
StockCo became the latest mid-cap issuer to complete an unrated transaction on October 13. The livestock finance group completed A$30 million (US$22.6 million) in a six-year subordinated domestic deal, with an interest rate of 8.75 per cent. According to an announcement from the transaction's sole lead, FIIG Securities, the transaction is part of a capital restructuring that will position the business to continue its rapid growth in the Australian livestock industry. The deal's completion coincides with a 30 per cent equity investment by rural security group Elders.
On October 12, the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) printed A$7.6 billion (US$5.75 billion) in a curve-extending, 2047-maturity syndicated bond. An earlier issuer announcement revealed initial price guidance on the transaction was 100-107 basis points over the implied bid yield for the primary 10-year Treasury bond futures contract.
Rentenbank (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced an increase to its March 2027 Kangaroo bond on October 11. According to KangaNews data, the tap issue will be the first increase to Rentenbank's longest outstanding Australian dollar line. The line was introduced on September 14 for A$100 million (US$76.1 million) at 55 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
On October 10, Australian Finance Group (AFG) revealed plans to engage with investors in relation to its residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) programme, commencing the week of October 17. According to KangaNews data, AFG most recently accessed the public securitisation market in April 2014 when it printed A$300 million (US$227.5 million) in a prime RMBS deal. AFG 2014-1 Trust had a four-tranche structure with the largest, A$276 million class A notes, pricing at 105 basis points over bank bill swap rate for a weighted-average life of 2.5 years.
Kommunalbanken Norway (KBN) (AAA/Aaa) printed a A$60 million (US$45.4 million) increase to its December 2026 Kangaroo line on October 7, after launching a minimum A$50 million tap the same day. Indicative pricing on the deal was 72 basis points over semi-quarterly swap and 72.5 basis points over Australian Commonwealth government bond. According to KangaNews data, the line was introduced in June this year for volume of A$50 million and pricing of 68 basis points over semi-quarterly swap.
Pepper Group (Pepper) included the longest-dated foreign-currency tranche in an Australian-origin residential mortgage-backed securities deal since the financial crisis during the first full week of October. Meanwhile, Qantas shared post-deal insights following its seven-and10-year domestic market return.
Société Générale (SocGen) (A/A2/A) priced a A$150 million (US$113.5 million) Australian dollar denominated tier-two transaction off its EMTN programme on October 7. The deal is SocGen's second Australian dollar tier-two issue in EMTN format this year. It priced A$325 million of 12-year, non-call seven notes in mid-July at 310 basis points over mid-swap.