KB Securities Takes First Step in Overseas Bond Issuance Market... Appointed Lead Manager for $1.5 Billion Bond by Export-Import Bank

First Participation of National Policy Bank in Overseas Bonds...Highlighting Strengths Such as Dedicated Overseas Syndicate Team

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] KB Securities has participated for the first time in overseas bonds issued by a policy bank. It played the role of joint lead manager and successfully issued $1.5 billion (approximately 1.6863 trillion KRW) worth of bonds.

On the 5th, KB Securities announced that it participated in the overseas bond issuance of the Korea Export-Import Bank. This is the first time KB Securities has participated in overseas bond issuance by a policy bank. KB Securities served as a joint lead manager alongside BNP Paribas, Cr?dit Agricole, Citigroup, Mizuho Securities, and Standard Chartered.

This issuance is the Export-Import Bank's first overseas bond public offering this year. It attracted global institutional investors such as central banks and sovereign wealth funds from various countries. The final valid demand was about 3.9 times the total amount offered, successfully exceeding expectations. The interest rate was reduced by up to 32 basis points (bp) from the initial price guidance (IPG), making it the lowest spread (additional interest rate compared to U.S. Treasury bonds) ever issued for Korean bonds.

Domestic securities firms have been at a disadvantage in adjusting issuance prices due to insufficient performance in the overseas bond market and the absence of dedicated overseas syndicate teams that understand and connect global financial market trends. KB Securities explained that it overcame these difficulties and successfully performed the role of joint lead manager based on its long-standing bond issuance market (DCM) capabilities accumulated in the Korean won bond market, its dedicated syndicate team in Hong Kong, and research capabilities.

KB Securities has ranked first in the domestic DCM sector for 10 consecutive years (as of the end of last year, according to Bloomberg). Previously, it achieved results such as sole lead manager for the $250 million Kimchi bond of Jilin City Railway Investment Development Co., Ltd. in 2018, and sole lead manager for the 300 billion KRW Arirang bond of China Eastern Airlines in 2019.

Jutaeyoung Ju, Head of Corporate Finance Division 1 at KB Securities, emphasized, "To ensure continuous participation in overseas DCM in the future, we will expand our overseas syndication capabilities and global bond sales capabilities at the company-wide level," adding, "We plan to increase personnel exchanges between KB Securities’ headquarters DCM and overseas subsidiaries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.