ICBC added to its credentials as a full-service bond house in 2015 as it dominated the onshore market, facilitated landmark international renminbi deals and helped Chinese issuers access foreign currency funding.
The bank reaffirmed its number one position in the domestic renminbi market, arranging Rmb156bn (US$24.5bn) of local offerings during the review period, according to Thomson Reuters data. As monetary easing lured more Chinese issuers into the local capital markets, ICBC’s extensive network played to its advantage, helping many offshore Chinese issuers lock in lower yields onshore.
Offshore, the bank made inroads in both the Dim Sum and G3 markets, completing Rmb6.3bn of Dim Sum offerings for a healthy 3.5% market share and US$5.4bn of G3 financings, testifying to its growing ability to serve clients across multiple markets and adjust to shifting conditions.
ICBC continued to tailor financings to support overseas expansions of Chinese state-owned enterprises, winning more lead roles on sophisticated transactions.
As a joint global coordinator, ICBC arranged Three Gorges’ debut offering in dollars and euros, helping to diversify its massive funding requirement.
It also helped its Chinese clients to capture the window of opportunity for euro funding at the beginning of this year as yields plunged in the currency. It acted as global coordinator for China Overseas Land & Investment’s €600m debut, the first euro bond for a PRC property developer, and introduced the first PRC steel company, Baosteel, to the euro market.
For Sinopec’s US$6.4bn dual-currency bonds, the largest offshore trade for a PRC corporate issuer, ICBC helped bring in anchor orders to drive momentum as joint bookrunner and joint lead manager.
ICBC itself set a number of records with its US$5.7bn offering of Basel III-compliant Additional Tier 1 capital in three currencies.
It was the first Asian AT1 offering in three currencies, as well as the first in offshore renminbi, the first in euros from an Asian bank, and the first Asian AT1 in the 144A/Reg S format. The Rmb12bn tranche was also the largest non-sovereign Dim Sum in history.
China’s biggest bank also did its part to further the internationalisation of the renminbi, and was trusted with challenging structures and politically sensitive transactions. ICBC was lead left manager on the People’s Bank of China’s landmark Rmb5bn Dim Sum debut in London.
The debut helped restore confidence in a fragile Dim Sum market after the surprise renminbi devaluation in August and furthered China’s ambitions of winning inclusion in the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights basket.
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