Herbert Smith Freehills advises China Huaneng Group on US$500 million perpetual bond offering

Leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd on its US$500 million 5.30% subordinated guaranteed perpetual bonds issue. This is the first US dollar-denominated perpetual bond issued by a Chinese state-owned company since 2022.

Huaneng Group, China's power generation giant, issued the bonds at a 77.5BP spread, the lowest in history for US dollar-dominated perpetual bonds issued by Chinese companies.

The offering attracted approximately 200 sovereign wealth funds, asset management and insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

"It is encouraging to see the securities attracted such active subscription from investors in this market," said Hong Kong partner Stanley Xie. "We are very delighted to have worked with Huaneng Group on another high-profile bond issue."

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised China Huaneng Group and its subsidiaries on multiple capital markets transactions, including US$1.5 billion offering of guaranteed fixed rate notes in December 2019 and two-tranche US$1 billion perpetual securities issue in December 2020, Huaneng Power International’s US$600 million offering of guaranteed fixed rate notes in February 2020, and Huaneng Renewables Corp. Ltd., on its voluntary delisting of its H shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in February 2020.

Partners Stanley Xie*, Jin Kong* and William Ku jointly led a cross-office team advising the client, assisted by registered foreign lawyer Sean Gao, associates Nicholas Loo and Bryan Zhu and legal assistant Leah Zhi. Senior associate Sarah Shen also provided assistance.

*According to regulatory requirements, Stanley Xie and Jin Kong's official titles are Senior Registered Foreign Lawyer in Hong Kong.