Offshore leader
CTBC Bank stood out among its competitors in the Taiwanese market for its leading roles on leveraged financings, wind farm projects and debut cross-border financings.
In a boom year for offshore wind farm financings, CTBC won financial advisory roles on two jumbo project loans for two leading international developers, a NT$61.9bn (US$2.03bn) 18-year loan for Danish renewable energy company Orsted and a NT$93bn 18-year loan for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
Financial sponsor KKR chose CTBC as the sole bookrunner for the landmark NT$31.2bn loan backing the leveraged buyout of specialty chemicals maker LCY Chemical. Even though political issues left Taiwanese government-owned banks unable to participate in the deal, CTBC underwrote the transaction with six other lenders and closed it successfully after three other Taiwanese commercial lenders came in.
CTBC was also a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner for the NT$10.9bn five-year loan backing European private equity firm Permira’s acquisition of a stake in Asian aquaculture company Grobest Holdings. Syndication was targeted to a limited group of banks, but still closed with an about 60% oversubscription.
“CTBC Bank lead-arranged all the major local LBO financing transactions, Taiwanese companies’ major capex financing transactions (onshore and offshore) and has been in a leading position in Taiwan’s offshore wind farm project finance and advisory,” said Matthew Liaw, head of the global structured finance division.
CTBC remains a leading player in the refinancing of sponsor-backed leveraged loans, such as the NT$46.7bn amendment and extension for Taiwan’s largest cable TV operator China Network Systems, a US$400m refinancing of the LBO loan for Interplex Holdings, and a US$238m refinancing of debt backing Citic Capital’s acquisition of Ansell’s condom division.
CTBC completed 38 deals as MLAB during IFR’s review period, winning repeat mandates from Taiwanese heavyweights and drawing overseas clients to Taiwan’s liquid loan market.
The bank was one of the three MLABs on a US$409m-equivalent onshore renminbi and offshore US dollar dual-currency loan for Formosa Plastics Group, which was 2.2 times oversubscribed.
Through collaborations with international banks and on-the-ground relationships, CTBC elevated itself to the bookrunner group for clients such as Tata Group, Union Bank of the Philippines and CMB Financial Leasing, helping all three access the Taiwanese loan market.
CTBC was the only Taiwanese bank in the bookrunner group for Tata Capital Housing Finance’s debut US$75m loan and Tata AutoComp Systems’ debut US$115m-equivalent loan.
The bank’s repeat mandates also included regular refinancings for global commodity trading company Trafigura, where it has been MLAB on the offshore renminbi portion for seven consecutive years.
To see the digital version of this report, please click here
To purchase printed copies or a PDF, please email gloria.balbastro@refinitiv.com