During 1998, DBS Bank achieved several important milestones in Singapore's capital markets. We were joint lead manager of a US$1 billion exchangeable bond issue and won the International Financing Review's Asian Equity-Linked Issue of the Year award. The bonds which are exchangeable into ordinary shares in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd represented the largest convertible (or exchangeable) bond offering in Asia, excluding Japan.
The Bank also managed the first asset-backed securitisation transaction in Singapore by issuing S$185 million of mortgage-backed bonds cum redeemable preference shares. The bonds are secured by the flagship office building of Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. An innovative feature of the transaction is the opportunity for investors to realise a share of gains on the sale of the building.
We were also the co-lead manager of a S$300 million bond issue by the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private lending arm. This was the first Singapore dollar bond sale by a supranational body.
In the equity market, DBS Bank successfully launched covered warrants on Singapore Airlines Ltd and Keppel TatLee Bank Ltd shares. Compared to past issues, which were placed exclusively with institutional investors, both issues featured smaller minimum subscriptions and board-lot sizes, making them affordable to individual investors. In the case of the Singapore Airlines transaction, DBS was the first bank to distribute warrants to the public through ATMs.
DBS was the leading underwriter of initial public offerings (IPOs), lead-managing eight of the 20 companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) during the course of 1998.
In the secondary market, DBS Bank lead-managed three of seven rights issues; for Nippecraft Ltd, ST Capital Ltd and DBS Bank. We arranged a S$400 million floating-rate note issue for ST Treasury Services Ltd and joint-managed the year's two largest share placements of NatSteel Electronics Ltd shares which raised S$255 million.
DBS also led in corporate advisory activities, advising on a number of mergers during the course of 1998 including: the take-overs of Pacific Century Regional Developments Ltd and CSA Holdings Ltd; the acquisition of Shenzhen Haixing Harbor Development Co. Ltd by China Everbright Pacific Ltd; the acquisition of Keppel Shipyard (Pte) Ltd by Hitachi Zosen Singapore Ltd; and the divestiture of Yaohan Best Electrical Pte Ltd by IMM Multi-Enterprise Ltd.
