South-East Asia Loan House: DBS Bank
Capitalising on market trends like the rise of Malaysian data centres and earning impressive sole mandates despite heightened competition for deals, DBS Bank is the South-East Asia Loan House of the Year.
DBS Bank stood out among its peers with an impressive array of sole mandates and widely syndicated loans despite a decline in overall deal volumes in South-East Asia.
Leveraging its structuring abilities, the Singaporean lender capitalised on major trends such as data centre expansion in Malaysia and was sole mandated lead arranger, bookrunner and underwriter on a US$490m loan closed in June for China’s WinTriX DC Group, formerly known as Chindata Group. The borrowing funded capital expenditure related to the MY06 data centre project in Malaysia and marked Chindata’s debut offshore syndicated loan, attracting seven banks in general syndication despite concerns about offtaker risk and geopolitical issues.
DBS was also one of the six MLABUs on a S$530m (US$402m) sustainability-linked loan for Australian data centre developer AirTrunk to develop part of the JHB1 data centre in Malaysia, which closed in October and attracted a dozen lenders. The bank also was sole coordinator of a S$400m one-year loan in June for GDS Holdings, the company’s first offshore data centre financing in Johor Bahru in Malaysia.
While leveraged buyouts from South-East Asia were few and far between, DBS was one of the two MLABs for a S$300m bridge term loan for Canadian International School to fully redeem the sponsor’s convertible bonds and refinance existing debt. The bank was also involved as one of the MLABs on a US$245m-equivalent loan backing private equity firm Hillhouse Investment’s LBOs of Singapore-headquartered InCorp Global and the fiduciary business of offshore law firm Harneys.
“In a market where it feels like we have been racing against the tide, DBS managed to set itself apart from the competition with our courage and conviction to provide underwritten solutions that [were] supported by our sharp market read and superior execution, setting the foundation for our market leadership which is especially evident in some of the cross-border deals that we have led this year,” said Mildred Chua, group head of syndication and loan solutions.
Singapore’s biggest lender played a vital role in guiding borrowers from outside Asia Pacific to tap into the region’s liquidity such as a US$1bn five-year loan closed in September for US-based Aviation Capital Group. DBS was sole coordinator on ACG’s debut syndicated facility in Asia, which drew 22 lenders and helped diversify the borrower’s funding sources.
In January, DBS had also acted as sole coordinator on a US$600m loan for US-based lessor Aircastle that attracted 25 lenders, and sole global coordinator for chemicals and energy storage company Advario’s US$550m debut syndicated facility that featured an innovative sustainability-linked loan conversion option and closed with seven banks.
DBS continued to be the top financier and coordinator for global and Asian commodity firms, which accounted for a large percentage of deals in Singapore during the year. It was global coordinator for commodities giant Trafigura’s US$3.2bn-equivalent SLL, which closed in September with 38 banks in total. Other highlights included energy trader JERA Global Market’s US$1.495bn borrowing linked to key performance indicators in October, which attracted 25 banks, and Gunvor Singapore’s US$1.32bn SLL in June, which drew participation from 26 banks.
While lending activity in Indonesia, South-East Asia’s largest economy, was muted during the year, DBS was one of the MLABs on state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s US$1bn debut social loan closed in September and Indomobil Group unit IMG Sejahtera Langgeng’s US$450m debut loan in May.
Elsewhere, DBS was a bookrunner on other well-distributed deals like aircraft leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital’s US$1.5bn deal completed in June and Thai telecom operator True Corporation’s ¥141.3bn (US$987m) debut SLL in September.
“Our strong performance in 2024 was a culmination of leveraging DBS’ franchise network and knowledge; and us placing a stronger emphasis on providing innovative financing solutions,” said Kelvin Lim, managing director, syndication & loan solutions at DBS. “This, together with our courage to provide underwritten solutions, has enabled us to better meet our clients’ financing needs in a tough market that was tackling a higher for longer rates narrative.”
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