In March 2000, Indonesian company Asia Pulp&Paper (APP) was the Wrst Asian bond issuer to return to the markets after the Asian Wnancial crisis, with a $403 million 10-year bond deal issued in the name of APP China, but guaranteed by the group. Just weeks before the bond launch, another APP subsidiary, PT Indah Kiat, was also the Wrst Indonesian borrower to tap the international loan markets after the crisis in early 2000 with a reWnancing of a $400 million bank facility that was also guaranteed by the parent company.
APP's return to the markets in March was an important step in Asia's Wnancial rehabilitation and APP stands out among Indonesian companies as one that has never missed or been late on a payment for any of its debt. "The group has clearly demonstrated the importance of access to long-term capital and has done a lot to turn its situation around in the wake of the crisis," says Rod Sykes, executive director at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Hong Kong. Some saw it as symbolic that APP's aYliate company PT Pindo Deli was the last Indonesian issuer to access the international markets before the meltdown in the autumn of 1997.