UOB prices £750 million floating rate covered bonds due 2029
They are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on Dec 8
[SINGAPORE] UOB announced on Tuesday (Dec 2) that it has priced £750 million (S$1.3 billion) floating rate covered bonds due June 2029.
The issue date of the covered bonds is expected to be Dec 8, 2025. Application will be made to the Singapore Exchange for the listing and quotation.
The covered bonds will bear interest at the compounded daily Sterling Overnight Index Average (Sonia) rate, plus 0.52 per cent per annum payable quarterly in arrear.
The Sonia rate is the average of the interest rates that banks pay to borrow the pound sterling from other financial institutions and institutional investors overnight.
Payments of interest and principal will be guaranteed by Glacier Eighty, secured by a portfolio of loans purchased by the company from the bank and other assets of the company.
The covered bonds, which are under UOB’s US$15 billion global covered bond programme, are expected to be rated “Aaa” by Moody’s Investors Service and “AAA” by Standard & Poor’s Rating.
On Nov 25, UOB priced 850 million euros (S$1.3 billion) in fixed rate covered bonds due 2030.
“Following UOB’s successful euro covered bond offering last week, sterling investors showed strong reverse interest. This provided both the issuer and investors with clear visibility on fair value based on recent sterling comparables,” the bank said in a media statement.
Koh Chin Chin, head of group treasury, research and customer advocacy at UOB, said: “Building on the strong momentum from last week’s euro covered bond, this sterling transaction allowed us to further engage our key European markets.”
Aside from UOB, the London branch of Bank of Montreal and RBC Europe have been appointed as joint lead managers for the covered bonds.
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