Temasek offers $1b of 10-year bonds in first sale
Temasek offers $1b of 10-year bonds in first sale
Netty Ismail, Bloomberg/Singapore
Temasek Holdings Pte, the Singapore government's investment fund,
will sell US$1 billion of bonds in its first debt offering, e-
mails showed.
Temasek, which managed investments of S$103.5 billion (US$61.8
billion) as of the end of March, plans to sell bonds maturing in
10 years, said the e-mails, which were sent to investors by the
sale's arrangers. The company may price the bonds to yield more
than 40 basis points, or 0.4 percentage point, more than like-
maturity U.S. Treasuries, one of the e-mails said.
Temasek is taking advantage of low borrowing costs as Chief
Executive Ho Ching expands investments outside of Singapore in a
bid to lift returns, which averaged 3 percent a year in the
decade ended March 2004. Ho, who is married to Singapore Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong, oversaw recent investments in banks in
China, India, South Korea and Indonesia.
Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley
are managing the sale, sale documents show. JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
which was last week hired by Temasek according to an e-mail sent
to investors, is no longer one of the underwriters.
JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Pholida Phengsomphone in Hong Kong
declined to comment as did Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho in
Singapore.
Temasek's planned sale is part of a $5 billion medium-term
note program, according to sale documents. The sale will give
investors access to the first top-rated global bond in Asia
outside Japan. Temasek is rated the highest investment grade,
Aaa, by Moody's Investors Service and AAA by Standard & Poor's.
Moody's last week said it expects Temasek to "gear up its
balance sheet" to fund its investment of about $3.6 billion in
Bank of China, the nation's second-largest lender.
Temasek posted group net income of S$7.6 billion for the year
to March 31, a 3.8 percent rise from the previous year, bond
offer documents showed.
Group revenue rose to S$68.7 billion from S$56.5 billion the
previous year, according to the bond-sale prospectus.
Temasek expects to set terms of the bond sale on Sept. 14, the
e-mail said. The 30-year-old company would promote the sale to
investors in Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Munich and
Frankfurt on Monday, the e-mail showed.
The company will on Tuesday meet investors in Hong Kong, San
Francisco, Boston, Newark and London, the e-mail said.