This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or elsewhere. No Notes are being registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and no such Notes may be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from such registration. Any Notes issued under the Programme in bearer form will be subject to U.S. tax requirements. No public offering of any Notes is being or will be made in the United States.
SINGAPORE, 14 October 2010 - DBS Bank announced that it has today successfully priced an offering of SGD 1.7 billion of non-cumulative, non-convertible, non-voting, preference shares callable in 2020 ("Preference Shares"). The DBS Group has outstanding Tier I instruments which are callable in 2011. The net proceeds from the issue of the Preference Shares, estimated to be approximately SGD 1.7 billion, are intended to allow the DBS Group to exercise these calls, which are subject to regulatory approval. The offering is expected to close on or around 22 October, 2010.
The Preference Shares will, subject to customary dividend deferral provisions, pay a non-cumulative fixed dividend rate of 4.70% per annum for the life of the Preference Shares. The Preference Shares are perpetual but may be redeemed at the option of DBS Bank on any date on or after 22 October 2020. The Preference Shares have been assigned indicative ratings of "A3" by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., "A" by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group and "A" by Fitch Ratings Ltd.
Chng Sok Hui, Chief Financial Officer of DBS Bank, said: "We are pleased with the strong demand for our Tier-1 offering, as this underscores institutional investors’ confidence in our prospects as DBS executes on our strategy and builds on our strong fundamentals. Following this successful issue, we are considering a separate retail offering of preference shares to cater to retail demand.”
The securities were distributed to institutional investors: 79% to private banks, 10% to insurance companies, 6% to fund managers and the remainder to corporates and other banks.
The offering's sole lead manager and bookrunner is DBS Bank. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte. and The Royal Bank of Scotland are co-managers for the offering.
About DBS
DBS - Living, Breathing Asia
DBS is one of the largest financial services groups in Asia with operations in 15 markets. Headquartered in Singapore, DBS is a well-capitalised bank with "AA-" and "Aa1" credit ratings that are among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.
As a bank that specialises in Asia, DBS leverages its deep understanding of the region, local culture and insights to serve and build lasting relationships with its clients. DBS provides the full range of services in corporate, SME, consumer and wholesale banking activities across Asia and the Middle East. The bank is committed to expanding its pan-Asia franchise by leveraging its growing presence in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to intermediate the increasing trade and investment flows between these markets. Likewise, DBS is focused on extending its end-to-end services to facilitate capital within fast-growing countries such as Indonesia and India.
DBS acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in each of its 14,000 staff, representing over 30 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.