Naver Issues 20 Billion Yen Samurai Bond... First Global IT Company to Do So
Naver successfully issued Samurai bonds on the 26th, becoming the first global IT company to do so.
The Samurai bonds have a total of four maturities: 14 billion yen for 3.5 years, 1.5 billion yen for 5 years, 1.5 billion yen for 7 years, and 3 billion yen for 12 years, totaling 20 billion yen. The issuance interest rates were fixed by adding spreads of 70 bps for 3.5 years, 82 bps for 5 years, 93 bps for 7 years, and 120 bps for 12 years over the Yen TONA rate (benchmark rate) for each period.
This Samurai bond issuance is the first case since 2016 where a domestic private company issued bonds solely without guarantees. In particular, the 12-year maturity tranche is the first long-term issuance exceeding 10 years among domestic issuers. It is also the world’s first case of a global IT company issuing Samurai bonds targeting Japanese bond investors. Successfully issuing long-term bonds with an average maturity of over 5 years is seen as recognition of Naver’s business sustainability.
Naver debuted in the dollar bond market in March 2021 with a $500 million issuance and increased it by $300 million in May. Since then, it has pursued diversification of funding sources by issuing Samurai bonds. Naver continues to expand its business in the Japanese market, led by Line, Japan’s number one global messenger.
Nam-sun Kim, Naver’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said, “Through this debut Samurai bond issuance, we were able to confirm the Japanese bond market’s trust in Naver, and we have also broadened the stage of global capital markets accessible to Naver by diversifying our bondholders. Our capability to secure stable liquidity for long-term growth has been strengthened.”
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Naver’s Samurai bonds were registered with the Japanese Ministry of Finance and issued via public offering. The bonds are expected to receive Moody’s A3 and S&P A- ratings. Mizuho and Citi jointly underwrote the issuance. Leading Japanese insurance companies and financial institutions participated in this issuance, showing demand exceeding the issuance amount.
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