Multi-disciplinary specialist healthcare services provider Singapore Medical Group ( SMG ) accessed the bond market for the first time with a S$90 million ( US$66.67 million ) offering on the back of a guarantee provided by Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility ( CGIF ), a trust fund of the Asian Development Bank ( ADB ).

The five-year senior unsecured bond, announced on November 20, carried a fixed rate of 3.54%. The proceeds will be used to refinance existing loans, accelerate strategic expansion initiatives, and allocate new capital expenditures for growth in Singapore and the rest of the Asia-Pacific ( APAC ) region. The offering strengthens SMG’s capital structure, diversifies its funding sources, and expands its investor base.

The transaction was more than 4x oversubscribed after generating robust investor demand from leading institutional investors, including BlackRock, Aberdeen, Everspring, Singlife and Brunei Central Bank.

The deal underscores CGIF’s continuing support for Asean+3 ( Asean, China, Japan and Korea ) strategic partnerships and investment in Asean healthcare infrastructure. The bonds were rated AA by S&P Global Ratings and were issued under the Asean+3 multi-currency bond issuance framework. DBS and OCBC Bank were the joint bookrunners and lead managers for the transaction.

CGIF chief executive officer Hongwei Wang says the guarantee is another opportunity for CGIF to deepen its support for the Asean healthcare sector, and the transaction also demonstrates the viability of Asean local currency bonds to promote Asean+3 financial integration and finance investments in essential sectors within the Asean region.

SMG executive director and CEO Beng Teck Liang says the inaugural bond offering allows the company to shore up and bolster its financial position as it looks to aggressively scale the group’s pan-Pacific healthcare platform. “We are focused on the execution of both organic and inorganic growth strategies in Singapore and the region with the ultimate goal of becoming the clear market leader in the specialist care space while evolving our current suite of services to focus more on women’s health and IVF ( in vitro fertilization ),” he adds.

Clifford Lee, global head of investment banking at DBS, says SMG’s bond issuance helps the company to expand its capabilities, serve more patients, and enhance the vibrancy of the region’s medical sector as the demand for quality healthcare increases in line with the growth in APAC’s middle-income population.

The group intends to progressively expand its women’s and children’s health segments into a leading reproductive medicine provider in the region, with a strategic aim to deliver 15,000 to 20,000 IVF cycles annually in the next three years. This will be achieved by leveraging SMG’s long-term strategic partnership with its largest shareholder, CHA Medical Group, as well as the group’s recent consolidation of City Fertility, one of Australia’s leading IVF groups.

CHA Medical Group is widely recognized as one of the global leaders in IVF in terms of scale and clinical quality, and one of the leading comprehensive medical groups in the APAC region with presence in South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Incorporated in 2005 and formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange, SMG has an extensive network of more than 45 owned and associated clinics covering over 25 medical specialties. The group has a growing regional presence, including in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia, and across multiple cities in Australia following several investments and joint ventures with strategic partners.