CIMB leads first major Taiwan deal

CIMB leads first major Taiwan deal
Business & Markets 2013
Written by theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 02 September 2013 12:34

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group leads its first major Taiwan deal, acting as joint bookrunner for the US$400 million (RM1.3 billion) convertible bond issued by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE).

ASE is the world’s largest independent provider of semiconductor packaging and test services.

“We could not have had a better name for CIMB’s first major Taiwan transaction,” said CIMB Group Holdings Bhd CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak in a statement.

“ASE is a global heavyweight in the TECHNOLOGY [] sector and the positive response to the issue despite market volatility underscores the inherent strength of top Asian corporates,” he said.

The issuance is the first convertible bond deal by CIMB in Taiwan and its investment bank’s second in North Asia this year.

With a market capitalisation of US$6.2 billion, ASE accounted for 18% of global market share in its sector in 2012.

The zero-coupon, zero-yield issue is scheduled to mature in 2018 with an exercisable put option in the third year.

The ASE offering attracted strong demand with books covered within 30 minutes and multiple times oversubscribed.

CIMB Group completed the expansion of its investment banking platform in the Asia Pacific in July 2013 with the launch of its investment banking and brokerage business in Taiwan.

Ronald Song heads the investment banking business while branch manager and head of Taiwan research Jeffrey Toder leads a 32-strong team, providing institutional broking to domestic and international clientele.

CIMB Taiwan initiated coverage of 67 Taiwanese stocks, which account for 60% of the domestic market capitalisation spanning nine sectors and 19 subsectors, including technology, finance, property, petrochemicals, consumer and building materials.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 02, 2013.