Sole global co-ordinator Bank of China International announced initial price guidance for the three year Reg S transaction at the 200bp over Treasuries area on Monday morning. ICBC and Morgan Stanley are bookrunners.
Bank of China London branch, which is rated A1/A, will be providing the SBLC. The notes will be issued by MCC Holding (Hong Kong) and are expected to be rated A1 by Moody’s.
Comparables are BoC (Hong Kong)’s A1/A rated 2.125% 2017s, which were trading at a Z spread of 120bp when the deal launched, Haitong International Finance’s A1 rated 3.95% 2018s, which were at a Z spread of 185bp, and Jingneng Investment’s A1 rated 2.75% 2017s, which were at a Z spread of 161bp.
Haitong’s 2018s are backed with an SBLC from BoC Singapore branch, while Jingneng’s 2017s come with an SBLC from Agricultural Bank of China Beijing branch.
MCC was last seen in the dollar market on July 22 2011 when it printed a $500m 4.875% 2016 bond also via MCC Holding (Hong Kong).
Elsewhere in the market, fellow Chinese industrial SOE Sinopec has reopened three of the five tranches from its record breaking $5bn issue in April.