Credit Suisse Group made a successfully debut in the Singapore dollar bond market as it priced on May 29 S$750 million (US$543.50 million) worth of additional tier 1 (AT1) perpetual non-call 5-year contingent write-down capital notes. The transaction serves to diversify Credit Suisse’s AT1 issuance currency and fixed income investor base.

The notes were priced at par with a similar coupon and re-offer yield of 5.625%. The notes are rated BB- by S&P and BB by Fitch. Credit Suisse is rated Baa2 by Moody’s, BBB+ by S&P and A- by Fitch.

The transaction was executed over two days, which allowed Credit Suisse to maximize participation and achieve the tightest pricing, attracting strong interest from both institutional and private banking accounts. At the final price guidance level, total orders stood in excess of S$2.7 billion from 118 accounts. In terms of geographic distribution, 91% of notes were sold in Singapore, 7% in rest of Asia and 2% in Europe. By type of investors, private banks were allocated 84%, fund managers 10%, banks 4% and insurers 2%. 

Credit Suisse CEO for Asia-Pacific Helman Sitohang says the transaction underscores Credit Suisse’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, establishes a new source of funding for the bank and diversifies its investor base.

He adds: “It also demonstrates our world-class execution capabilities and the unique value proposition of our integrated model, which is based on close collaboration between our regional and global investment banking teams and our private bank in delivering capital raising and hedging solutions. The strong distribution platform that comes from Credit Suisse Private Banking is a key differentiator for us.”

Credit Suisse was the sole global coordinator and sole structuring agent for the transaction. It also acted as a joint bookrunner for the offering, along with DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank. HSBC was a joint lead manager, while Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, NatWest Markets, Nordea and Rabobank were co-managers