KangaNews is proud to announce the winners of the institutional and deal categories in the KangaNews Awards 2023. At the end of another busy year in the Australian and New Zealand capital markets, KangaNews received votes from hundreds of market participants keen to recognise the achievements of 2023's most outstanding performers.

Ausgrid’s return to the US private placement market for a second jumbo transaction indicates the inrease in optionality for issuers in this sector, deal sources say. The multitranche deal is notable for the inclusion of Canadian dollar and sterling notes – from which the issuer derived a pricing benefit – which further highlight the scale of potential demand for Australian corporate credit.

Australian and New Zealand corporate borrowers were somewhat less active in the US private placement market in 2022 than they have been historically. But participants at a roundtable hosted by KangaNews and MUFG Securities in Miami in January note that this was in line with dramatically reduced corporate issuance across the board, and suggest US private placements will be a favoured option as soon as supply picks up.

Intermediaries say execution strategy will play a more important role in international funding for Australian corporate borrowers in 2022 as spreads widen, investor allocations become more selective and new sources of market volatility continue to emerge.

While the world wrestled with accepting inflation in late 2021, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand led, abandoning QE in July as its economy recovered from the pandemic-induced slowdown. At the KangaNews New Zealand Debt Capital Market Summit in December 2021, a collection of international high-grade market participants shared their perspective on the global economic backdrop and the year ahead.

Ausgrid Finance’s euro market return continues its ambition to term out bank debt since privatisation in 2016. Deal sources say the transaction, and Ausgrid’s intentions to be a regular issuer into the market, received significant investor interest.