Malayan Banking Berhad (“Maybank”) successfully closed and signed a USD700 million 5 year syndicated term loan facility. The deal was fully underwritten and arranged by mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners comprising Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Labuan Branch, Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., Labuan Branch and Standard Chartered Bank Labuan Branch. It received overwhelming response from the market, which saw a total of 22 banks (including the mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners) joining the transaction. The Facility was upsized from the original amount of USD500 million to USD700 million to accommodate part of the oversubscription during syndication.
President & CEO of Maybank Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar expressed gratitude to the arrangers and investors in the syndication. “We are very pleased with the outcome of the syndication which is the largest of such syndication facility for a financial institution in this region in recent times. The oversubscription and significant upsize amount demonstrate global and domestic investor confidence in our strategy and strong financial position as well as the strength of the Maybank brand and franchise. The interest by foreign financial institutions particularly those in the Asian region also augurs well for the sovereign rating of the country that will help increase foreign investor confidence investing in Malaysia,” said Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid.
“The loan will be used for general funding to support the Bank’s global assets growth as we continue our business growth momentum in line with our aspiration to be a regional financial services leader by 2015,” added Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid.
The tight pricing for this 5-years syndicated loan facility to a financial institution demonstrated the overwhelming support for Maybank. This transaction is testament to Maybank’s strong credit standing (rated A3 by Moody’s, A- by Standard and Poor’s and A- by Fitch at par with Malaysia's sovereign rating) as well as reflective of the scarcity value which bank investors accord to this transaction.