Two prominent Asia Pacific banks, Commonwealth Bank and DBS Group, have successfully ventured into the U.S. dollar bond markets, collectively raising $4.75 billion through separate transactions, as per term sheets reviewed by Reuters.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Australia’s largest bank by market capitalization, concluded three issuances totaling $3.25 billion. These include a five-year covered bond worth $1.75 billion, a two-year fixed-rate note valued at $900 million, and a two-year floating-rate note worth $600 million, according to the term sheet.
CBA refrained from offering any official comments on the transaction.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s DBS Group made its return to the dollar bond markets after nearly two years, successfully securing $1.5 billion.
These transactions occurred within a flurry of bond issuances in the U.S. on Tuesday, where 21 issuances collectively amounted to $31 billion, as reported by IFR.
The post-Labor Day surge in bond issuance by global investment-grade-rated companies exerted additional pressure on long-end U.S. Treasuries, as some investors opted for higher-yielding top-rated corporate debt over government bonds.
DBS, in its offering, issued a two-year fixed-rate bond raising $750 million and a two-year floating-rate note generating an equivalent amount, as detailed in the term sheet.
The fixed-rate note carried a coupon rate of 5.479%, while the floating-rate note was priced at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 61 basis points.
DBS refrained from providing official comments on the transaction but verified the details in a term sheet sent to Reuters.
Investors displayed strong interest in these bonds, subscribing to more than $2.65 billion worth of the two-year fixed-rate bond, as per the term sheet. The floating-rate note garnered over $2 billion in orders from investors.
The term sheet further revealed that U.S. and Asia-based investors accounted for nearly 90% of the fixed bond subscriptions and a staggering 98% of the floating note subscriptions.
DBS has indicated that the proceeds from these bonds will be allocated for its finance and treasury activities.
