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Car-sharing group Uber issued a $1.5bn convertible in November at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent
去年11月,共享汽车集团优步(Uber)发行了15亿美元的可转换债券,利率不到1%
US companies have been piling into the market for convertible bonds as they search for ways to keep their interest costs down, in a rare flurry of activity in otherwise subdued corporate fundraising markets.
寻找降低利息成本方法的美国企业纷纷涌入可转换债券市场,成为原本低迷的企业融资市场中罕见的一波活动。
Issuance of convertible debt climbed by 77 per cent last year to $48bn, according to data from LSEG, making it one of the only areas of capital markets to return to pre-pandemic averages after 2022’s market downturn.
LSEG的数据显示,去年可转债发行量攀升77%,至480亿美元,使其成为资本市场在经历2022年市场低迷后恢复到疫情前平均水平的少数几个领域之一。
Experts say the boom in convertibles, a type of bond that can be swapped for shares if a company’s stock price hits a pre-agreed level, is likely to continue this year as companies refinance a wave of maturing debt.
专家表示,随着企业对一波到期债务进行再融资,可转债的热潮今年可能会持续下去。可转债是一种可以在公司股价达到预先商定水平时换成股票的债券。
The debt has traditionally been popular with younger technology and biotech groups that struggle to access mainstream bond markets. But more established companies have also dived in as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have driven up borrowing costs even for investment-grade companies.
传统上,这种债券受到难以进入主流债券市场的年轻科技和生物技术企业的欢迎。但随着美联储加息,即使是投资级公司的借贷成本也在上升,更多的老牌公司也纷纷加入。
“Historically converts had sometimes been seen as one of those spivvier products that investment-grade names stayed away from,” said Bryan Goldstein, who advises companies on convertible deals at Matthews South. “Now some big name issuers have come to the market, that narrative has shifted — it is seen as an attractive product on its own merits.”
Matthews South公司可转换债券交易顾问布莱恩•戈尔茨坦表示:“从历史上看,可转换债券有时被视为投资级公司避开的那些较华而不实的产品之一。现在,一些知名发行人已经进入市场,这种说法发生了转变——它本身被视为一种有吸引力的产品。”
Convertibles offer borrowers lower interest rates than traditional bonds without the immediate dilution for shareholders that would come through selling new stock. While 2023’s total issuance was lower than the record levels hit in 2020 and 2021, when companies took advantage of net-zero interest rates to shore up their balance sheets, it was well above the average of $34bn for the decade to 2019.
与传统债券相比,可转换债券为借款人提供了更低的利率,而且不会像发售新股那样立即稀释股东的权益。尽管2023年的总发行量低于2020年和2021年创下的创纪录水平(当时企业利用净零利率来支撑资产负债表),但远高于截至2019年的10年间340亿美元的平均水平。
That is a stark contrast to the markets for initial public offerings, follow-on share sales, high-yield debt and leveraged loans, where volumes are still languishing well below pre-pandemic levels.
这与首次公开发行(IPO)、后续股票发行、高收益债券和杠杆贷款市场形成鲜明对比,这些市场的交易量仍远低于疫情前的水平。
For borrowers, the savings can be substantial. The average yield on conventional investment-grade bonds has risen from 2.5 per cent at the start of 2022 to 5.2 per cent today, according to Ice BofA data. Average junk bond yields have risen from 4.9 per cent to about 7.8 per cent in that period.
对于借款人来说,可以节省大量成本。Ice BofA的数据显示,传统投资级债券的平均收益率已从2022年初的2.5%升至如今的5.2%。同期,垃圾债券的平均收益率已从4.9%升至7.8%左右。
By contrast, car-sharing group Uber issued a $1.5bn convertible in November at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent.
相比之下,汽车共享集团优步去年11月以不到1%的利率发行了15亿美元的可转换债券。
Michael Youngworth, convertible bond strategist at Bank of America, said convertibles typically cut between 2.5 and 3 percentage points from the debt’s interest rate — translating into tens of millions of dollars in annual savings for a deal like Uber’s.
美国银行的可转换债券策略师Michael Youngworth表示,可转换债券通常会将债务利率降低2.5-3个百分点——对于Uber的这一交易,相当于每年节省数千万美元。
Other companies to have tapped the convertible bond market in recent weeks include utility giant PG&E — whose credit rating puts it at the higher end of the “junk” category — and fellow energy group Evergy, an investment-grade borrower.
最近几周利用可转债市场融资的其他公司包括公用事业巨头PG&E(其信用评级处于“垃圾”级的高端),以及同类能源集团Evergy(投资级借款人)。
For both utilities, part of the rationale for issuing convertibles — worth $1.9bn and $1.2bn respectively — was to pay down existing non-convertible term loans.
对于这两家公用事业公司来说,发行可转换债券——分别价值19亿美元和12亿美元——的部分原因是为偿还现有的不可转换定期贷款。
US investment-grade companies have a record $1.26tn of debt to refinance over the next five years, according to an October report from rating agency Moody’s, up 12 per cent from the previous half-decade period. Junk-rated companies have $1.87tn across both bonds and loans.
评级机构穆迪(Moody's) 10月份发布的一份报告显示,未来5年,美国投资级企业需要再融资的债务达到创纪录的1.26万亿美元,比上一个五年期增加了12%。垃圾级公司的债券和贷款合计达1.87万亿美元。
“Converts are going to stay popular because we have a massive maturity wall that’s about to hit,” said Ken Wallach, co-head of global capital markets at law firm Simpson Thacher. “In 2020 and 2021, companies issued all this five-year paper in a much lower rate environment during the height of the pandemic.”
Simpson Thacher律师事务所全球资本市场联席主管肯•瓦拉赫(Ken Wallach)表示:“可转换债券将继续受到欢迎,因为我们即将撞上一堵巨大的到期墙。2020年和2021年,在疫情最严重的时候,企业在低得多的利率环境下发行了所有这些五年期债券。”