Two Chinese state-owned energy giants have sold a combined $2.58 billion in bonds, helping to push issuance in Asia this week to the highest level since mid-May.
A total of $5.9 billion has been raised this week in bond sales denominated in dollars, euros and yen in Asia excluding Japan, the most since $8.1 billion was raised the week of May 13, according to data provider Dealogic.
China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc Group, raised $1.98 billion in the biggest debt offering in Asia ex-Japan since May 22, the day the U.S. Federal Reserve sparked big outflows from emerging markets by indicating that it was preparing to wind down its monetary stimulus.
Cnooc Group, parent company of offshore oil producer Cnooc Ltd., on Thursday sold a $1.3 billion, 10-year U.S. dollar bond at a yield of 4.5%, or 1.85 percentage points above the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury. The yield fell slightly in trade on Friday, reflecting strong demand in the secondary market. Bond prices move inversely to yields.
The group also sold a $675 million euro-denominated bond with a coupon of 2.75%, another term sheet showed.
Part of the proceeds will be used to finance its acquisition of Project Curtis, a natural gas project in Queensland, Australia, according to the term sheets. Bank of China Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS AG were joint global coordinators.
Meanwhile, China General Nuclear Power Corp. on Thursday sold a $600 million dollar-denominated bond with a maturity of five years, according to a separate term sheet. The yield was 3.643%. HSBC, JPMorgan and China Development Bank were global coordinators.
A number of other companies have sold big bonds this week following a recent recovery in emerging-market assets and a decline in U.S. Treasury yields. Among them were Bangkok Bank, which sold a $1 billion bond, and BHP Billiton Ltd., which issued a $5 billion bond.
Chinese property developer Yuzhou Properties Co. is selling a five-year, high-yield bond on Friday. The company plans to offer a yield of around 9%, and the bond carries provisional ratings of B and B2 by Standard & Poor's and Moody's, respectively, according to a term sheet seen by The Wall Street Journal.
The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt, though the size of the issue is yet to be determined, the term sheet said.
BOC International, DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, DBK.XE -0.61% HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan and UBS are arranging the transaction.
