Several banks mandated by Suncorp-Metway are close to finalising a new 5 year benchmark issue on its behalf. Suncorp has $750 million of April 2016 FRNs due to mature in a week’s time so it is not a stretch to anticipate a $750 million raising. The last foray of Suncorp Group’s banking division into debt capital markets was in mid -October when it issued $750 million worth of fixed and floating bonds with October 2020 maturities. That deal was priced at Swap/BBSW + 125bps and while the new issue is reported to be in the BBSW + 140bps region, it will be interesting to see how Suncorp’s latest debt issue fares.in regards to its final pricing. The ECB expanded its bond purchasing programme to corporate bonds in mid-March and credit spreads for investment grade issuers have tended to contract since then but Suncorp may end up paying more all the same.