UOB set to issue US$2 billion in dollar-denominated notes across 3 tranches

[SINGAPORE] UOB is set to issue US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in a three-tranche US dollar-denominated senior bond offering, it said on Thursday (Mar 27).

The notes will be issued under the bank’s US$30 billion Global Medium Term Note Programme.

The issuance includes a US$800 million three-year fixed-rate note (Series 074 Notes) bearing a coupon rate of treasuries plus 0.401 per cent, payable semi-annually in arrears. The notes will mature on Apr 2, 2028.

The coupon for its US$900 million three-year floating-rate note (Series 075 Notes) bears a rate of compounded Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 0.58 per cent, payable quarterly in arrears and maturing on Apr 2, 2028.

Its US$300 million five-year floating-rate note (Series 076 Notes) bears a coupon rate at compounded SOFR plus 0.65 per cent, payable quarterly in arrears. The notes will mature on Apr 2, 2030.

All three series of notes are expected to be rated “Aa1” by Moody’s, and “AA-” by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. The notes are expected to be issued on Apr 2, 2025.

UOB said that it has re-entered the US dollar market to take advantage of recent constructive markets, a stable window without any key market-moving events, and ahead of Trump’s proposed tariffs on Apr 2.

Koh Chin Chin, Head of Group Treasury, Research and Customer Advocacy, UOB, said, “The USD market continues to be one of our deepest liquidity sources. After a brief hiatus, we set out to re-engage the widest global investor community and establish new benchmarks across different formats and tenors.

“Notwithstanding the growing headwinds, it has been very heartening to see such a solid reception from our real money investors, allowing us to surpass our size expectations at very competitive funding levels,” she added.

The deal saw strong interest from global institutional investors, with 59 per cent of the three-year floating-rate notes allocated to US investors, and 40 per cent of the three-year fixed-rate note tranche also going to the US. Asian investors accounted for the bulk of demand in the five-year floating-rate note tranche at 93 per cent.

UOB said the transaction marked the tightest spread for three-year fixed-rate notes and floating-rate notes issued by an Asia-Pacific ex-Japan and ex-China bank since early 2022.

The bank said that the USD market remains among its deepest liquidity sources. The offering would allow the bank flexibility to navigate recent volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, while intraday execution of the deal minimised overnight risks.