Barclays

Indonesia’s Star Energy Geothermal raised $580m from its debut green bond this week, selling a deal that also had some of the hallmarks of a project finance deal — a rare combination in Asia’s credit market. But the deal hit several speed bumps along the way. Morgan Davis reports.

Barclays Africa Group made full use of the positive momentum that followed fellow South African bank FirstRand’s dollar tier two to price its own deal with a lower yield, despite investors initially asking for a pick up over FirstRand.

After several weeks of focusing on conventional bonds in core currencies, SSAs popped back into the socially responsible investments (SRI) market this week. Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) is laying the ground for an affordable housing bond in euros, while the European Investment Bank found a solid reception for a Climate Awareness Bond that came in rare seven year dollar form.

Barclays Africa was on track to make it two South African tier two bonds in a week on Wednesday, and began pricing by offering a pick-up to rival FirstRand.

The EMEA IPO market is fully underway again after the Easter break, with bankers fresh from the Courchevel ski slopes or St Tropez sunbeds to provide investors with some fresh IPO powder. But high volumes means buyers have the ability to be selective.

Indonesia’s Star Energy Geothermal (Wayang Windu) put together its first green bond on Tuesday after weeks of courting investors. Its $580m deal was meant to have a similar reception as the blow-out project finance trade from Paiton Energy Co in 2017, but the more difficult market backdrop posed a challenge.

The International Development Association wowed on-looking SSA bankers with its debut bond issue on Tuesday, with some saying it printed in line with sister issuer World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). The borrower opted for dollars with its first trade, but is likely to be a regular name in the currencies making up the IMF’s special drawing right basket.

The European Investment Bank is set to plug a gap in its dollar Climate Awareness Bond curve after mandating banks on Tuesday for a June 2025 trade, opting for a rare seven year dollar bond.

The International Development Association, part of the World Bank Group, is on screens with its debut bond issue. The trade is offering a handful of basis points over seasoned World Bank Group issuer the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (known as World Bank), according to bankers away from the mandate.

UK construction company Galliford Try has raised £164m through a rights issue to cover the costs related to the collapse of construction and facilities management firm Carillion in January, after the successful conclusion of its fully underwritten rights issue on Monday.

French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco said in December it planned to sell around €2bn of bonds to refinance the bridge loan it has taken on to fund its $15.7bn acquisition of its Australian peer Westfield Corp. On Monday, it brought the deal to market and received reassuring demand.

FirstRand Bank was on track to open the market for South African tier two issuance ahead of Barclays Africa, which is lining up a trade for later this week.