Hong Kong airport makes history raising $7 billion in bonds' issue

Sydney: Airport Authority Hong Kong has raised $7 billion this week by issuing bonds in three currencies - the largest ever public offering of bonds by a Hong Kong company.

Most of that was done in a three-tranche dollar bond deal which garnered $4.15 billion, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Thursday.

It raised $1.3 billion in a 3.5-year bond, $1.85 billion in a 5.5-year deal and $1 billion in a 10-year tranche.

The firm also raised the equivalent of $2.8 billion in Hong Kong dollar and Chinese yuan bonds this week, term sheets for those deals showed. The Hong Kong dollar deal of HK$18.5 billion ($2.4 billion) was also the largest ever from a company in that currency.

The dollar tranche was the biggest for a Hong Kong company since 2003, book runners said.

Investors lodged $3.4 billion worth of a bids for the shortest dated dollar bond, $5.8 billion for the 5.5-year deal and $8.5 billion for the 10-year bond, they said.

Airport Authority Hong Kong did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.

More than $10 billion has been raised in dollars in Asia this week, according to LSEG data and term sheets seen by Reuters.

Dealmakers expect about a 20 per cent rise in dollar issuance across the region in 2025, as lower US interest rates since late last year make dollar bonds more attractive to issuers.

($1 = 7.7812 Hong Kong dollars)