DLA Piper has advised Rizhao Port (Hong Kong) Company Limited (日照港(香港)有限公司), (“Rizhao Port”) on its issue of RMB 850 million worth of credit enhanced bonds, its first “Dim Sum” bond offering in Hong Kong, in mid-May. DLA Piper acted as Hong Kong counsel for the bond issuer, Rizhao Port, and its PRC-based parent company, Rizhao Port Group Co. Ltd. (日照港集團有限公司), (“Rizhao Port Group”).
DLA Piper assisted in preparation of the bond offering circular and key transaction documentation whilst also arranging listing of the bonds on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The bond issue was the first time Rizhao Port Group, a PRC SOE with a diversified corporate group involved in port operations, construction contracting and commodities trading, had undertaken a bond issue outside of the PRC.
John Shi, partner at DLA Piper said: “We were delighted to be part of this important deal for our client. “Dim Sum” bonds, or bonds that are issued in Hong Kong and denominated in Chinese Renminbi, are a growing market and we have seen demand for Dim Sum bonds growing with issuances in Hong Kong in Q1 of 2014 reaching RMB 125 billion (US$ 20 billion), the highest on record according to Reuters data. DLA Piper will work towards securing further work in this growing market.”
The bond issue involved a collaborative effort across three of DLA Piper’s Asian offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore, including partners John Shi, Paul Lee, Ben Sandstad and Jeffrey Mak, and lawyers David Cheng, Yao Chi and Andrew Nicholls. Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as Hong Kong counsel for the joint lead arrangers Agricultural Bank of China International and Barclays Bank, along with Beijing DHH Law Firm acting as PRC counsel for the issuer and joint lead arrangers respectively.
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