News
Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac)'s decision to issue the first Kauri Basel-III compliant bank tier-two transaction was driven by a desire for further diversification of tier-two product, the issuer tells KangaNews. The fact that the transaction was issued out of the Australian head office provided a point of difference to recent Basel-III compliant tier-two trades in New Zealand as well as an additional layer of comfort – and was a key attraction for investors, lead managers add.
On August 5, Resimac printed A$750 million (US$570.5 million) in a nonconforming residential mortgage-backed securities transaction. The transaction follows a July 8 announcement that Resimac would undertake a series of investor meetings in Australia.
Following its July 19 Reg S dollar transaction, SGSP Australia Assets (SGSPAA)'s says the participation of a broad investor base was especially encouraging and flags its desire to continue to expand its issuer profile among this investor subset. SGSPAA returned to the Reg S market, after a four-year hiatus, with the pricing of US$500 million of 10-year notes from a book of more than seven times final volume.
Activity resumed following the Australian bank holiday at the start of the week with several Kangaroo transactions pricing. These included L-Bank's new A$200 million (US$153 million) February 2021 line and KfW Bankengruppe's A$450 million increase to its February 2021 bond. Meanwhile, Westpac Banking Corporation completed the bookbuild on its first tier-two Kauri.
L-Bank (AAA/Aaa) priced a new, February 2021-maturity Kangaroo bond for volume of A$200 million (US$153.1 million) on August 5. According to KangaNews data, L-Bank currently has three bonds on its Kangaroo curve, maturing in 2018, 2025 and 2026.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) revealed on August 4 that after completing the bookbuild, it has set the offer size and margin on its offer of subordinated tier-two notes in the New Zealand market. According to Australian Securities Exchange and NZX announcements, the margin on Westpac's NZ$400 million offer has been set at the tight end of the 260-280 basis points over swap indicative range.
Mercedes-Benz Australia Pacific (Mercedes-Benz Australia) (A-/A3/A-) mandated a new, three-year Australian dollar transaction on August 4. The deal will be issued off the issuer's EMTN programme and will be listed in Luxembourg.
On August 4, Bank of Queensland (BOQ) (A-/A3/A-) priced the refinancing of the class A2 notes of its REDS Trust Series 2013-1 residential mortgage-backed securities issue. The new, REDS Trust Series 2013-1 class A2R notes will be used to repay the A$170 million (US$127.3 million) outstanding balance of the original class A2 notes. According to KangaNews data, this tranche priced at 115 basis points over bank bill swap rate for a weighted-average life of three years in July 2013. The scheduled maturity of the notes is August 22 2016.
On August 4, KfW Bankengruppe (KfW) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) priced a tap to its February 2021 Kangaroo bond. According to KangaNews data, the transaction is the second tap to this line.