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South Korea's SK Corporation, one of the country's largest oil refinery companies, plans to issue bonds securitized by export receivables as soon as possible with the hope of raising USD300 million, says Lee Sang-Soo, manager of the international finance department in Seoul. The company plans to contact bankers in the next few weeks and has already applied to the Ministry of Finance for approval to do what would be the first asset-backed securitized deal from a Korean corporate. Although a number of ABS mandates were handed out last year, particularly among Korean merchant banks, the fall to junk status of the government's credit rating in December dashed hopes of getting any deals done. Although banks are allowed to issue securitized bonds, corporates still require the government's green light, Lee adds. He says SK is the only corporate to file such an application so far, although he believes other large entities are in the process of doing so. MoF officials did not return calls to confirm this.