HONG KONG/SINGAPORE • A term sheet for Singapore Airlines' (SIA) first US dollar bond has been circulated by bookrunners for the potential issue, and calls were being held with prospective investors yesterday, according to the document seen by Reuters.

The size of the deal will be determined today following briefings with investors in Asia and Europe, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The term sheet showed that the airline has appointed Citigroup as sole global coordinator, along with BofA Securities and HSBC as joint bookrunners for the issue.

SIA had in the past carried out debt deals in Singapore dollars rather than US dollars.

The deal will not be offered to investors based in the United States, according to the term sheet.

"We can confirm that SIA did not have any USD issuance in the past," the airline said in an e-mail response to Reuters.

SIA, which counts Singapore investment company Temasek as its biggest stakeholder, has issued US$2.77 billion (S$3.7 billion) in five bond issuances in the past seven years, according to Dealogic.

The most recent was a US$372 million 10-year private placement deal last November.

The airline said in a statement yesterday that it expected its passenger levels by the end of March to be about 25 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 levels, and that it would fly to nearly 45 per cent of its pre-crisis destinations.

"In line with Singapore's progressive reopening, as well as the gradual vaccination of the population across the world, we expect to see a measured expansion of the passenger network," it said.

There was US$22.7 billion worth of US dollar debt issued last week in Asia, the busiest week in a year, Refinitiv data showed.

REUTERS