Adding value
In a year marked by tepid deal flow and cutthroat competition among lenders battling aggressively for mandates, DBS Bank notched up an impressive array of key roles to win IFR Asia’s South-East Asia Loan House of the Year.
The Singaporean lender played a vital role in guiding commodities trading firms to join the ESG wave. It was sole sustainability-linked loan coordinator for sector giant Trafigura, which raised around US$2.7bn-equivalent through a loan in October for its Asian business. The borrowing was the largest SLL for Trafigura’s Asian business as was a US$1.125bn loan in July for Gunvor’s Asian unit. Both SLLs attracted more than two dozen lenders.
DBS was sole coordinator and a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for energy trader JERA Global Market’s debut US$1.475bn syndicated loan, which closed in October with 22 banks in total, after JERA committed not to use proceeds for coal-related activities or businesses.
There were few event-driven financings in the region, but DBS acted as global coordinator for two facilities totalling €1.04bn (US$811m) for Singaporean airport service company SATS, which was part of a revamp of the company’s financing following the acquisition of air cargo logistics business Worldwide Flight Services.
“2023 presented a number of tough challenges to navigate. DBS stayed true to the course in strengthening the value we bring to our clients, enabling us to outperform amidst these difficult conditions, producing our best ever year,” said Mildred Chua, group head of syndicated finance.
Indonesia was the busiest loan market in South-East Asia and DBS left its mark with a coordinating role on a US$1.5bn dual-tranche borrowing for Pertamina Hulu Energi in August. The loan attracted 11 lenders in syndication despite being the borrower’s second financing in less than a year after a US$2.5bn borrowing in September 2022.
DBS was one of the MLABs on other notable deals in Indonesia including Perusahaan Listrik Negara’s US$750m debut green loan, Sarana Multi Infrastruktur’s US$700m debut SLL and Indomobil’s US$400m financing – all of which achieved stellar outcomes, attracting a dozen, 38 and 24 lenders in syndication, respectively.
In terms of new mandates, DBS played a pivotal role for Dutch semiconductor maker Nexperia’s US$800m debut SLL as sole MLABU and sustainability coordinator. The bank helped the client drum up interest in Singapore for the deal, which drew 11 lenders in syndication from across Asia and Europe.
Elsewhere, DBS was a bookrunner on other well-syndicated deals like Thai telecom operator True Corporation’s US$1.43bn jumbo financing completed in September and Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp’s US$1.33bn borrowing in June.
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