China shipping cos to sell US$350m in debt

Two of the Mainland's largest shipping companies, China Shipping Container Lines (Asia) and China Ocean Shipping (COSCO), plan to sell about US$350m in debt, the Standard of Hong Kong reported, citing bankers familiar with the deals. China Shipping Container Lines, a unit of Hong Kong-listed China Shipping Container Lines, has arranged to borrow US$100m to buy new containers, the newspaper said. The loan, financed by Germany's Commerz, ING Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong), will consist of a 5-year, US$20m tranche and a 4-year, US$80m tranche, which will be sold to a syndicate of banks by the end of the month. COSCO Group plans to sell RMB2bn of 10-year and 20-year bonds in the domestic market. CITIC Securities is managing the COSCO deal, which could be sold as early as next month.