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Lotte Jamsil Tower (Photo courtesy of Lotte Engineering & Construction) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Lotte Engineering & Construction (Lotte E&C) failed to secure any institutional investor interest in its first public bond offering of the year, with the entire issuance going unsold.
According to the investment banking industry on the 23rd, Lotte E&C conducted a book-building session to raise 110 billion won in public bonds, but received zero orders from institutional investors.
The lack of demand is attributed to growing concerns over the company’s project financing (PF) contingent liabilities. Recently, Lotte E&C’s unsecured bond credit rating was downgraded from ‘A+’ to ‘A’, further dampening investor sentiment.
Despite offering relatively high interest rates—5.4–5.7% for 1-year notes and 5.6–5.9% for 1.5-year notes—the offering failed to attract any buyers.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)