Halcyon Agri's 5-year bonds subscribed by 16 times

[SINGAPORE] Halcyon Agri Corp's five-year maiden bond issue was subscribed a staggering 16 times - with orders of over $2 billion received for the $125 million 5NC3 on offer, DBS Bank said yesterday. 5NC3 means the issuer will not call or redeem the five-year bonds before the third year.

Due to the strong demand from private bank clients who accounted for 90 per cent of buyers, the bonds were priced at 6.5 per cent, down from initial guidance of 6.75 per cent.

The maiden bond issuance from a commodity company like Halcyon was a welcome diversification for investors, said Rina Ooi, DBS managing director, treasury & markets. Many Singapore dollar bond deals have been by real estate companies or from the marine sector.