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SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) are planning to
sell their first Samurai bonds backed by an Australian
government guarantee, market sources said.
Westpac and ANZ have mandated Daiwa, Nikko Citigroup and
Nomura to lead manage both offers, the sources said.
Samurai bonds are denominated in yen and sold by foreign
borrowers in Japan.
Westpac, Australia's second-biggest bank, is expected to
come first with an issue in January and to be followed by ANZ,
the country's No. 4 bank, in February, the sources said.
Australian banks are queuing up to raise funds across the
globe under a government guarantee programme which came into
effect late November to help them weather the global financial
crisis.
Australian banks have raised nearly US$27 billion in
guaranteed bonds since December with the vast majority
denominated in U.S. and Australian dollars. However, fears of a
bond oversupply are encouraging borrowers to look at other
currencies and countries to raise funds.
Suncorp-Metway (SUN.AX), Australia's second-biggest car and
home insurer, is eyeing a British pound bond issue with a
five-year maturity. See [ID:nSYD332019] for more.
No issuer has yet sold government-backed Samurai as the
Japanese currency was initially excluded from government
guarantee programmes, a banker said.
Bonds backed by the Australian Commonwealth are rated
triple A by S&P and Moody's. Investors worldwide are keen
buyers of this new asset class as they offer significantly
higher margins than traditional government bonds, also rated
triple A.
(Additional reporting by Rika Otsuka)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)
