Bluestone targeting growth following private-equity injection
Bluestone Group (Bluestone) agreed acquisition terms with US private-investment firm Cerberus Capital (Cerberus) on 27 February, which sees the specialist lender’s Asia-Pacific business spun off as a separate entity. In the wake of the transaction, Campbell Smyth, Bluestone’s Sydney-based chief executive, discusses the impact of the deal.
Scaling up
Australia’s proximity to and ever-increasing ties with investors in Asia is spinning off plenty of impacts in the debt markets, one of which is heightened issuer engagement with the US dollar Reg S market. Reg S has the potential to become a true pan-Asian benchmark funding option, market users say.
Westpac opens a new investor segment to Australian bank sustainable funding
Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) opened a new route to sustainable funding when it printed a A$117.3 million (US$92 million) Uridashi deal earlier in February. The deal hints at growth in demand for sustainable and socially responsible products from Japanese retail investors and consequent opportunities for Australian issuers.
Simmer down
A reduced aggregate funding target for calendar 2018 should change the issuance menu for Australia’s big-four banks, heads of funding tell KangaNews. Meanwhile, the majors say their funding tasks are well set despite the re-emergence of market volatility in February.
Bluestone carries nonbank momentum into 2018
In the wake of the first nonbank securitisation deal of 2018, issued by Bluestone Group (Bluestone) on 20 February, issuer and lead managers insist investor appetite remain robust. They say that after a bumper year of issuance in 2017, the sector is primed to build on last year’s momentum.