In what could be one of the busiest weeks in the Asian G3 bond market this year, several repeat issuers are accessing the market as the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close and the printed deals so far are being rewarded with strong investor demand.

Hong Kong public transport operator and property developer MTR Corporation leads the procession this week pricing on March 25 a three-tranche offering totalling US$3 billion. The Reg S deal comprised of a five-year bond amounting to US$500 million, which was priced at 99.632% with a coupon of 4.375% to offer a yield of 4.458%. This was equivalent to a spread of 40bp over the US treasuries, or 3bp tighter than the initial price guidance of 75bp area.

The second tranche was for 10 years amounting to US$1 billion, which was priced at 99.898% with a coupon of 4.875% and a re-offer yield of 4.888%. This represented a spread of 58bp over the US treasuries, or 27bp back of the initial price range of 85bp area.

The third tranche was for 30 years amounting to US$1.5 billion, which was priced at 98.456% with a coupon of 5.25% to offer a yield of 5.354%. This was equivalent to a spread of 70bp over the US treasuries, which was 30bp inside of the initial price guidance of 100bp area.

The deal generated strong investor demand totalling US$13.4 billion across three tranches. The five-year bond garnered an order book of over US$3.6 billion from 160 accounts, while the 10-year bond generated demand worth US$4.5 billion, The 30-year tranche secured the biggest demand with an order book of over US$5.3 billion from 226 accounts.

The bonds were drawn under MTR’s US$15 billion debt issuance programme. BofA Securities, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered and UBS were the joint global coordinators for the transaction, as well as joint bookrunners and lead managers along with ANZ, Bank of China ( Hong Kong ), Barclays, BNP Paribas, CIBC Capital Markets, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ICBC ( Asia ), Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, MUFG Bank, OCBC Bank, SMBC Nikko and Société Générale.

Jollibee returns to US dollar market

The Philippines’ multinational food service company Jollibee Foods Corporation returned to the US dollar primary bond market after an absence of more than four years with a US$300 million issuance. The Reg S only unrated transaction, launched through the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte Ltd, represents the first G3 bond offering from a Philippine corporate in 2025, garnering a significant investor appetite with a final order book exceeding US$2 billion.

In a company disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange on March 26, Jollibee says the 7x oversubscription rate underscored the robust participation from high-quality international accounts, alongside strong domestic support. It adds the significant investor demand played a key role in allowing the company to tighten the final pricing by 35bp to 125bp over the US treasuries from the initial price guidance of 160bp area.

In terms of geographical distribution, 94% of the bonds were distributed in Asia and 6% in EMEA. By type of investors, asset and fund managers accounted for 60% of the paper, while banks, insurance companies and official institutions took 31%, and private banks and other investors 9%.

J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley acted as the joint global coordinators for the deal, as well as the joint bookrunners and lead managers together with HSBC and BPI Capital Corporation.

Jollibee last tapped the US dollar bond in June 2020 raising a total of US$600 million in dual tranches, equally split at US$300 million each for 5.5 years and 10 years.

LG Energy prices US$2 billion bonds

South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, one of the largest electric battery manufacturers in the world, also priced on March 25 a four-tranche offering totalling US$2 billion. The Reg S/144A deal consisted of a three-year fixed rate issuance amounting to US$400 million, a five-year fixed rate bond of US$600 million, a five-year floating rate note ( FRN ) amounting to US$300 million, and a 10-year fixed rate bond amounting to US$700 million.

The deal garnered a combined order book of US$8.1 billion, and such a strong market response saw the final spreads tightened from the initial price guidance by 30bp over the US treasuries for the three-year fixed rate and the five-year fixed rate tranches, and 35bp for the 10-year fixed rate bond. The five-year FRN was printed at 170bp over Sofr ( secured overnight financing rate ).

Proceeds from the issuance will be used to finance and/or refinance new or existing projects related to low-carbon transportation and energy efficiency in line with the company’s green financing framework. BofA Securities, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered were the joint bookrunners and the transaction.

LG Energy Solution previously accessed the US dollar bond market in June 2024, pricing a triple-tranche trade totalling US$2 billion. The five-year and the 10-year tranches of the transaction were green bonds amounting to US$800 million and US$500 million respectively. That deal generated a total demand of US$8.6 billion.

Other US dollar bond deals

There are several other US dollar bond deals currently in the market, including PETRONAS with 5.75-year, 10-year and 30 years offerings, UOB with three-year fixed rate, and three-year and five-year FRNs, Mongolian Mining Corporation with a five-year non-call two-year deal, and Beijing Capital with a four-year transaction.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands also mandated BPI Capital as sole global coordinator, alongside BofA Securities, HSBC, J.P. Morgan and UBS as joint bookrunners to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings commencing on March 26. A US dollar-denominated benchmark-sized Reg S offering of five-year fixed rate and/or FRN and/or 10-year fixed rate senior notes may follow, subject to market conditions.