The Sydney branch of UOB has announced its intention to price A$900 million ($870.1 million) of floating rate notes on Feb 18. The transaction is the largest single issuance for UOB and the largest for a Southeast Asian issuer.
The Australian dollar-denominated notes will be issued under the US$15 billion ($20.15 billion) global medium term note (GMTN) programme.
“Since October 2020, we have been pre-financing actively in the market ahead of macroeconomic and structural headwinds. Together with the latest print of A$900 million, we have achieved a total issuance volume of A$3.6 billion during this period. We are thankful for the strong support and repeated demand across both domestic and regional investors," says Koh Chin Chin, head of group central treasury unit at UOB.
"UOB has garnered a strong domestic and international investor following in the AUD market, evidenced by the progressively larger volumes and orderbooks in each of our offerings," adds the bank in a Feb 18 statement.
The five-year notes will mature in 2027 and will have a coupon of 0.72% per annum (p.a.) payable quarterly in arrear. The coupon will reference the three month bank bill swap reference rate.
The notes are expected to be rated Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service, AA- by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services and AA- by Fitch Ratings.
See also: Banks in Singapore can withstand multiple shocks: MAS
The issue date of the notes is expected to be on Feb 24.
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia and UOB have been appointed as the joint lead managers and bookrunners for the notes.
Shares in UOB closed at $32.86 on Feb 17.
Photo: Bloomberg
