Bangkok--13 Mar--SCB
The Siam Commercial Bank PCL (“SCB”) today announced that it priced US$600 million 3.375% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2017 (the "Notes"). The Notes are issued by SCB’s Hong Kong branch and are rated A3 by Moody's, BBB+ by S&P and BBB+ by Fitch.
Mrs Kannikar Chalitaporn, President of SCB, commented, “The strong order book and the fine pricing is a testimony to the credibility and strength of our franchise amongst the global investor base. Siam Commercial Bank set out to create a benchmark transaction and is pleased to have demonstrated, yet again, the strong interest in Thai issuers across the global capital markets.”
This transaction is significant for various reasons:
- First US$ bond issuance out of Thailand since May 2011. The last US$ bond transaction out of Thailand in May 2011 was also issued by SCB.
- The transaction priced through the implied secondary curve of SCB.
- Three times oversubscription with strong participation from investors in Asia, Europe and the United States.
The Notes have been priced at 252.5 basis points over the 5-year US Treasury Note, at a price of 99.811% to yield 3.413%. The Notes will be denominated in US dollars, and will bear fixed interest of 3.375% per annum, with interest payable semi-annually in arrears. SCB will apply the net proceeds to meet the funding requirements of SCB and its foreign branches and for general corporate purposes.
In terms of geographic distribution, the Notes were distributed 62% in Asia, 26% in Europe and 12% in the United States. The Notes were distributed to high quality fixed income accounts: 38% to fund managers, 31% to banks, 15% to central banks / public institutions, 9% to insurance funds and 7% to private banks.
Barclays Capital and Citigroup acted as joint bookrunners and lead managers.