Davis Polk, Han Kun Law Offices and Maples Group are among five law firms that have advised on Meituan’s issuance of two tranches of senior notes worth USD2.5 billion. It is the largest issuance by a Chinese company in the offshore bond market in three years.
Partners He Li and Gerhard Radtke led Davis Polk’s team in advising the issuer on Hong Kong and US law. Han Kun acted as Meituan’s PRC legal counsel, while Maples Group acted as its Cayman Islands legal counsel.
Clifford Chance’s partners Angela Chan and Alan Yeung advised seven underwriters on US law, while JunHe advised them on PRC law. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC were the global co-ordinators in this transaction, while UBS, Barclays, and CITIC Securities were managers and bookrunners in the deal.
Meituan issued USD1.2 billion worth of 4.5% notes due in 2028 and USD1.3 billion worth of 4.625% notes due in 2029. This is the first bond issuance by a Chinese TMT (telecoms, media and technology) company through Rule 144A/Regulation S in the past two years. The proceeds will be used for refinancing Meituan’s existing offshore indebtedness and other general corporate purposes.
JD.com and Alibaba issued convertible senior notes worth USD2 billion and USD5 billion, respectively, in May this year – the latter is the biggest of its kind in Asia since 2016. These issuances have fuelled expectations of a wave of bond financing by large Chinese tech companies.
