Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to announce that the firm has advised on a RMB690 million note offering by ITNL Offshore Two Pte. Ltd., guaranteed by IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited. The deal marks the single largest ever CNH bond issue from an Indian company.
Listed on the Singapore Exchange, the offering comprised RMB690 million 7.5% Reg S only Senior Unsecured Notes due 2018.
IOPL is a 100% owned subsidiary of ITNL which is a leading surface transportation infrastructure company and one of the largest private sector BOT road operators in India. ITNL is part of the IL&FS group which has an established track record in promoting and financing a range of public infrastructure projects in India for over 25 years.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team on the transaction was led by Singapore-based capital markets partner Philip Lee. The firm acted as sole international counsel for CLSA, ANZ, HSBC and SCB as joint lead managers. Philip was supported by senior associate Preeti Kamat, associate Nupur Kant and trainees Emma Reid and Amy Stolberg, in Singapore. A Hong Kong team advising the trustee was led by Hong-Kong based partner Alexander Aitken and associate Jessie Ng.
Philip commented:
“This is a significant deal for India as it is a successful precedent for Indian companies to raise alternative currencies such as RMB to source capital in the debt capital markets to supplement the traditional US dollar market. It has been truly exciting to work on this ground breaking transaction and we are proud to have been involved in the deal’s success.”
Herbert Smith Freehills has been increasingly active in the Indian debt capital markets space recently; recent transactions include:
• advised Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers on the issue of a US$1 billion dual tranche note offering by state-run Oil India Limited.
• acted as sole international counsel to ANZ, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and HSBC on a US$300 million bond offering by India’s largest automobile manufacturer, Tata Motors Ltd.
• advised the joint lead managers in respect of Tata Communications’ S$250 million notes issue, the first note issued by a non-bank Indian corporate in the Singapore dollar-denominated capital markets in 2013
