Shangri-La Asia has made its first foray into the Panda bond market, pricing a three-year note to raise 1 billion yuan (US$138 million).

The issuance, the first tranche of its 20 billion yuan medium-term note programme, was subscribed 4.09x.

The coupon rate is 2.5%, after Shangri-La and the 1 billion yuan issuance secured an AAA rating from China Lianhe Credit Rating. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Bank of China (BoC), China Merchants Securities (CMS) and Mizuho Bank (China) jointly managed the bond.

Zhu Lei, head of debt capital markets, investment banking department, at BoC, says the strong investor demand for the issuance, the first-ever Panda bond from a Hong Kong-listed hospitality group, “reflects Shangri-La’s strong creditworthiness, excellent financial and robust business fundamentals”.

Huo Da, board chairman, executive director and chief information officer of CMS, also notes: “This is the first time we are working with Shangri-La on corporate debt issuance. This is the lowest coupon rate of Panda medium-term notes for an offshore non-state-owned entity. We are delighted with these strong results and look forward to continuing working with them in future issuances.”

The issuance further diversifies Shangri-La's funding sources while helping the group manage its foreign currency exposure and better match its assets' geographical exposure, adds Chua Chee Wui, the company's chief financial officer and executive director.