Tencent said to pick five banks to underwrite US$1.5 billion loan

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has selected five banks to underwrite a US$1.5 billion five-year syndicated loan, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Chinese company bankrolls an expansion into online services and entertainment. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 6, 20156:50 PM

[HONG KONG] Tencent Holdings Ltd. has selected five banks to underwrite a US$1.5 billion five-year syndicated loan, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Chinese company bankrolls an expansion into online services and entertainment.

The company picked Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Bank of China Ltd, Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Mizuho Bank Ltd to lead a facility split between a term loan and a revolver, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren't authorised to speak publicly.

Canny Lo, a spokeswoman for Shenzhen-based Tencent, declined to comment in an e-mail.

Tencent, which counts more than 1 billion users for its messaging services WeChat and QQ, was last in the loan market in May 2014 for a US$200 million, five-year facility. That facility, its debut in the syndicated loan market, paid a margin of 151 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate.

See who is talking about TENCENT

Last 30 days:

• 857
• 26
• 94

30 days avg

HOT COMPANIES

EasyJet +335% messages

• AstraZeneca +251%
• IAG Airlines +108%
• Coca-Cola HBC +91%
• BHP Billiton +86%
• Intu Properties +83%
• InterContinental +70%
• British Land +55%
• Barratt Develop +51%
• Morrisons +51%

• AstraZeneca +251%
• IAG Airlines +108%
• Coca-Cola HBC +91%
• BHP Billiton +86%
• Intu Properties +83%
• InterContinental +70%
• British Land +55%
• Barratt Develop +51%
• Morrisons +51%

Tencent reports quarterly results Tuesday. The company founded by Ma Huateng is riding a wave of advertising growth through its games and social media platforms and is now seeking new sources of revenue from services such as streaming entertainment and online commerce.

The details of the syndicated loan were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

BLOOMBER
G

Airbus flies past 2015 order target two months early

NOV 6, 201511:03 PM

[PARIS] European aircraft maker Airbus said on Friday orders booked from January to October had already taken the company past its target for all of 2015.

The company reported 850 net orders for the period, aided by strong demand from China and Singapore. The initial ten-month target was 630 orders, Airbus told AFP. It did not provide the original full-year projection.

October alone brought 35 orders for long-haul A350 XWB and A330 aircraft,and Airbus also confirmed China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) would be buying 30 A330-300 medium-to extended-range jets.

The firm added that Singapore Airlines was buying four A350-900 new Ultra-Long Range aircraft for direct flights to the United States.

See who is talking about AIRBUS GROUP

Last 30 days:

• 2572
• 68
• 621

30 days avg

HOT COMPANIES

EasyJet +335% messages

• AstraZeneca +251%
• IAG Airlines +108%
• Coca-Cola HBC +91%
• Intu Properties +83%
• BHP Billiton +79%
• InterContinental +62%
• Morrisons +57%
• British Land +54%
• Barratt Develop +51%

• AstraZeneca +251%
• IAG Airlines +108%
• Coca-Cola HBC +91%
• Intu Properties +83%
• BHP Billiton +79%
• InterContinental +62%
• Morrisons +57%
• British Land +54%
• Barratt Develop +51%

Aircraft deliveries totalled 495 for 81 customers at the end of October.

Airbus added Aviation Capital Group had ordered a single aisle A321 new engine option jet.

In October alone, 49 deliveries comprised 37 single-aisle A320, six long-haul A330 and four A350 XWB as well as two Super Jumbo A380.

Airbus added it had 6,741 jets in its order book as of end-October, equivalent to "ten years of production."

AFP

    
 

Dollar holds gains ahead of key US jobs reports

The US dollar on Friday hovered around two-month highs on the yen and rose against a string of emerging currencies ahead of US jobs data that could support the case for a December interest rate hike. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

NOV 6, 201512:48 PM

[TOKYO] The US dollar on Friday hovered around two-month highs on the yen and rose against a string of emerging currencies ahead of US jobs data that could support the case for a December interest rate hike.

The Labour Department's October employment report was expected to show job growth strengthened to 181,000 new payrolls from September's paltry 142,000 reading.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said a rate hike next month was a "live possibility" if data continues to show a solid expansion in the world's top economy.

High-yield, riskier emerging currencies have been hit hard this year on fears of a flight of capital back to the United States as dealers look for better, safer investments on the back of the looming US rate lift-off.

"Market sentiment has been driven toward a rate hike," said Yosuke Hosokawa, head of the forex sales team at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

"As the result, dollar-buying momentum is still strong...in the medium term, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the dollar rise to 123 yen," he told AFP.

The US unit changed hands at 121.66 yen in afternoon Asian trading, slightly off 121.74 yen in New York late Thursday.

But it was still well up from below 120 yen in recent weeks and trading around two-month highs.

The greenback climbed against the Taiwanese and Singapore dollars, the Philippine peso, South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah.

"The market is on tenterhooks ahead of the US non-farm payrolls," Angus Nicholson, an analyst at IG Markets Ltd. in Melbourne, told Bloomberg News.

"US data has been somewhat mixed but the market has been responding more strongly to the Fed statements this week that they could hike rates this year."

In other trading, the euro was nearly flat at US$1.0886 and 132.44 yen compared with US$1.0881 and 132.46 yen in US trade.

AFP

    

BNP Paribas to shut Hong Kong 'dark pool' business: sources

NOV 6, 20156:32 PM

[HONG KONG] BNP Paribas is shutting down a private trading platform in Hong Kong that allows investors to buy and sell shares anonymously, popularly known as 'dark pools', two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.

BNP has become one of the first victims of tough new Hong Kong rules that are set to increase the cost and risk of operating such businesses in the financial centre as of next month when they come into force.

The French bank sent a note to clients earlier this week saying it was closing its BNP Internal Exchange, or 'BIX'platform, as of next month, the sources, who are aware of the note, said.

The sources declined to be identified as the information is not public. BNP declined to comment.

REUTERS