Australian bonds
Return of retail debt
June 01, 2009
Two deals could be the start of a new debt market
Australian retail investors have not had the opportunity to invest in corporate debt for many years. Whilst Europe, the US and New Zealand all have robust corporate retail debt markets, Australia has been notable for its almost exclusively wholesale market.
However, on March 11 2009 AMP (a financial services and wealth management group) led a potential resurgence, launching a listed transaction that ultimately raised A$296 million ($223 million) from a mix of institutional and retail investors. It was followed in April by a A$284 million bond from Tabcorp (a gambling and entertainment group) with institutional investors taking a large portion of the bonds and retail picking up the balance.
Both AMP and Tabcorp are household names in Australia. Whether these transactions signal a new start for a genuine retail debt market remains an open question. The answer will depend...
The rest of this article is available to subscribers only. Subscribe today for full access to this article.
Alternatively take a free trial, giving you access for 48 hours*.
If you are already a subscriber, please log in below to access the rest of this article.
*some articles may be excluded.