Verizon and others sold a record A$52B in Kangaroo bonds in H1, as Asian demand capped borrowing costs. The trend means more US firms may diversify funding away from dollars.
Alpha Score of 53 reflects moderate overall profile with weak momentum, strong value, weak quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals – score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
A record A$52 billion – roughly $36 billion – of Kangaroo bonds were sold in the first half of 2026, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Overseas borrowers from Commerzbank to Verizon Communications sold about a third more than in the same period a year earlier, with orders often outstripping supply.
The surge matters for anyone tracking global corporate funding. The Kangaroo market is becoming a third pillar for some companies, alongside the euro and dollar markets, said Daniel Leong, head of Australian dollar syndicate at Mizuho Securities.
Australia’s central bank has some of the highest interest rates in the developed world. That draws investors looking for yield, especially from Asia, where Chinese dollar-denominated debt has dried up after the property crash. The resulting pool of demand keeps borrowing costs manageable for issuers – even those with no business in Australia.
Vonovia’s head of corporate finance, Fabian Lander, said treasurers from other issuers have called him asking about the market. “We have no business activity Down Under, so the pure rationale for the deal was diversification,” he said.
Aroundtown, a European real estate firm, raised A$600 million in January. It priced its longer-dated debt below what it would have paid in euros because demand was so strong, according to Timothy Wright, Aroundtown’s chief capital markets officer.
Verizon was among the US names to tap the market, alongside Oncor Electric Delivery. The telecom giant, which carries an Alpha Score of 48 on AlphaScala’s proprietary scale, used the Kangaroo market as part of its broader funding mix.
New issuers keep arriving. In June, Telefónica of Spain, Engie of France, and Commerzbank all priced inaugural deals. Engie got more than A$4.3 billion in orders for a A$1.25 billion bond that included a rare subordinated note from a non-financial corporate.
Mizuho’s Leong said he expects the market to remain active as long as Asian liquidity keeps flowing into Australia. “It’s a release valve for some of these large global companies,” he said.
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