SPH to issue S$500m 3.2% senior unsecured notes due 2030

Published Thu, Jan 16, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) will be issuing S$500 million senior unsecured notes at par, under its S$1 billion multi-currency debt issuance programme.

The 10-year notes will carry a coupon of 3.2 per cent per annum, the mainboard-listed media and property group said on Wednesday.

The notes are expected to be issued on Jan 22, and listed on the Singapore Exchange on Jan 23. They will mature on Jan 22, 2030.

Issuance proceeds will be used for SPH's general working capital, capital expenditure, and/or to refinance existing borrowings of the group and its subsidiaries. They may also be used for corporate requirements, including acquisitions and investments, SPH noted.

In its regulatory filing, it said it has the option to redeem the notes, in whole or in part, at any time on any interest payment date, at a "make-whole" amount plus accrued and unpaid interest.

Under the make-whole call provision, SPH will pay a premium if it calls the bond early. This premium is equal to the present value of the remaining coupons, discounted by the Singapore-dollar swap offer rate plus 50 basis points, according to the term sheet.

Deal statistics seen by The Business Times (BT) show that the order book exceeded S$750 million from 35 accounts.

Fund managers, institutional investors and banks accounted for the bulk of the orders at 60 per cent. The remaining 40 per cent came from private banks. By geography, almost all (99 per cent) of the orders were from Singapore.

DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank were the joint lead managers and bookrunners for this deal.

The new bonds were launched less than a year after SPH issued two perpetual bond deals. The group issued S$150 million of 4.5 per cent perps at par in May 2019, followed by S$300 million of 4 per cent perps in November 2019.

SPH, which publishes BT, saw its shares close at S$2.13 on Thursday, up one cent or 0.5 per cent.

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