Quality advice paid dividends in a volatile 2013 and HSBC proved adept at guiding borrowers through a volatile market. The bank leveraged on its integrated debt platform to help clients choose between global bonds and syndicated loans, and used its firepower to win leading roles on the biggest event-driven financings.
HSBC has an enviable position in Hong Kong, but shows no signs of resting on its laurels, solidifying its leadership with several repeat mandates, playing a central role in acquisition and IPO-related financings, and deepening the offshore renminbi loan market.
A debut offshore financing for Sichuan Expressway provided a showcase for HSBC’s talents. Sichuan had initially looked at a US dollar facility, before completing a Rmb1bn two-year offshore renminbi loan in April. The deal, the largest Dim Sum loan of 2013, closed with eight other lenders, even though the fixed-rate margin on the Dim Sum loan was not as attractive as that on the original US dollar facility.
Real-estate financings still dominated proceedings in the city, and HSBC advised many clients on the best approach to the market, including some behind-the-scenes work on club-style transactions.
HSBC’s advice was often product-agnostic. Notable loans included a HK$15.2bn five-year borrowing for blue-chip Sun Hung Kai Properties; a HK$13.8bn dual-tranche refinancing for Henderson Land Development; a HK$7.6bn four-year loan for Longfor Properties; a HK$5.36bn three-year amortising loan for Agile Property and a HK$3.8bn three-year loan for Yuexiu Property.
With the exception of Henderson, all hired HSBC to arrange bond issues, showing their faith in the bank’s abilities across asset classes.
The same was true for AIA Group. HSBC was among banks providing a US$1.725bn 18-month bridge in December that a US$1bn bond in March partially took out.
HSBC also successfully syndicated a HK$3bn loan for Haitong International Securities Group, lifting the deal from HK$1bn and underscoring the bank’s ability to distribute mid-market transactions.
HSBC followed its clients overseas, featuring on Hutch’s US$3.5bn refinancing for Vodafone Australia in June and a US$3.6bn loan for Hutchison Port Holdings in September.
The bank ended the review period as a lead on the giant HK$37.5bn (US$4.8bn) loan to back Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa-owned utility Power Assets Holdings’ spinoff of Hongkong Electric. Within a month of the deal hitting the market, 19 lenders were poised to join.
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