News
KangaNews is proud to announce the winners of the institutional and deal categories in the KangaNews Awards 2022. At the end of another hectic year in the Australian and New Zealand capital markets, KangaNews received votes from hundreds of market participants keen to recognise the achievements of 2022's most outstanding performers.
Transpower New Zealand returned to the Australian dollar market for the first time since 2014 for its latest green-bond transaction, banking on latent demand from local buyers to help diversify the borrower’s investor base. Transpower says limited Australian domestic corporate issuance was a concern but local investors ultimately provided a substantial oversubscription.
The combination of tighter margins and the depth available in the 144A market supported ASB Bank’s second US dollar trade this calendar year. Deal participants say the transaction drew strong interest from Asian accounts, which were attracted by the diversification and high quality of New Zealand bank credit.
New Zealand Debt Management and its leads are confident the first-ever New Zealand sovereign green bond achieved the best possible pricing, but are reluctant to assign a specific ‘greenium’ to the trade given the range of factors at play. The issuer intends its first green bond to be part of its nominal curve and will be closely monitoring liquidity in the year before it becomes the on-the-run 10-year New Zealand government bond.
In a further sign that a less frenetic future path of Reserve Bank of Australia rate hikes is allowing confidence to seep back into Australian high-grade issuance, KfW Bankengruppe conducted a rare large-volume, late-year foray into the Kangaroo market on 15 November. Demand was largely international but the issuer says it was pleasantly surprised by the scale of the bid.
Offshore investors drove the execution of the Australian Office of Financial Management’s latest syndication, including Asian accounts taking one-third of the book. Market participants say the Reserve Bank of Australia easing back on its hiking path is helping entice international accounts back to the Australian dollar primary market.
The days of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities as a standalone bond issuer are over as the New Zealand government announced on 11 November that the public housing agency’s future debt requirements will be funded directly by the sovereign, via New Zealand Debt Management.
International Finance Corporation says the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 25 basis point interest rate hike on 1 November opened an Australian dollar issuance window. The A$900 million transaction is the issuer’s largest Kangaroo deal for more than a decade and its first green bond in the Australian dollar market.
As the urgency of action to achieve rapid decarbonisation grows, Australian market participants say work being done by the International Sustainability and Standard Board to establish a global baseline for disclosures is crucial to achieve the efficient and effective allocation of capital.
The Australian Office of Financial Management says nonbank issuers and their lenders have once more raised the idea of government support for securitisation funding. But the agency does not have a mandate to restart the structured finance support fund and says it is currently confident in the asset class’s liquidity.
The Australian federal government seems likely to start sounding industry on mandatory climate reporting in the wake of November’s UN Climate Change Conference, having renewed its commitment to such a regime and directed budget funds to support its development.
Export Finance Australia’s growing funding task and natural need for US dollars led it to the 144A market for the first such public US dollar denominated transaction from an Australian government-sponsored issuer. The agency says its US dollar programme is set up for repeat issuance but it also expects to be active in the domestic market over time.