• Market conditions – global market volatility heightens as investors grow cautious.
• Australian bank debt market – refinancings comprise majority of volume as Q4 marks largest quarterly loan volume since Q1 2015.
• Australian domestic bond market – busiest quarter of 2018 with continued investor support at extended tenors.
• Funding corporate activity – depressed M&A lending continued in Q4 2018 and no sponsor backed deals reported as closed, capping off a disappointing year.
• USPP – reduced volumes from Australia and NZ but strong international activity drives total USPP issuance.

Notable syndicated transactions for the quarter included: 

• QBE Insurance Group secured a US$2.4 billion three-year multi-tranche revolving credit facility for general corporate purposes in December 2018.
• Seek Ltd closed a US$1.025 billion-equivalent multi-tranche refinancing, which comes only 18 months after completing its previous borrowing of A$917 million (June 2017), indicating a willingness for the online recruitment firm to tap back into the favourable market conditions for borrowers.
  
• Treasury Wine Estates, the Australian listed entity, increased its US$300 million refinancing to US$350 million due to increased market appetite. The dual-tranche facility comprises a US$120 million 5 year term and a US$230 million 7 year term, with opening interest margins of 130bp and 165bp over LIBOR, respectively.
  
• Qantas Airways, increased it’s A$300 million 10-year asset-backed loan to A$450 million due to an oversubscription (7x). Similar to the previously reported A$300 million facility in our Q3 report, the pricing of the increased facility is between 145-175bps tied to a loan-to-value ratio of 65-80 percent. The borrowing marks the second loan for Qantas under the financing program it set up in October 2017.
  
• SGSP (Australia) Assets, owner operator of energy infrastructure assets (rated A- by S&P), closed an $A650 million 5.5-year revolving credit facility in November 2018. The funds will replace the A$600 million four-year tranche of the A$1.2 billion facility signed in December 2015, which also carries a A$600 million five-year portion.