By King & Wood Mallesons
In March 2018, the Republic of the Philippines issued RMB1.46 billion panda bonds in China. The bonds have a coupon rate of 5.0%, with a three-year tenor. The bonds were more than six times oversubscribed. Oversea investors (including those participating through the “Bond Connect” regime) were allocated 88% of the bonds.
This is the first panda bond offering by a Southeast Asian sovereign issuer, marking a milestone in the cooperation between China and the Philippines in capital markets and the Belt and Road Initiatives.
King & Wood Mallesons, as the PRC counsel to the issuer and the drafting counsel in the transaction, advised the client on all aspects of the offering. This is the fifth sovereign panda bond offerings in which KWM acted as a PRC counsel and drafting counsel, demonstrating our unparalleled strengths in providing quality and professional services in panda bond offerings.
The KWM team for this transaction is led by the partner Christine Chen.