The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world’s largest bank by assets, has listed five-tranche carbon-neutrality-themed bonds worth $2.68 billion on Nasdaq Dubai.
These five-tranche notes were issued by ICBC’s branches in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Hong Kong, London and Singapore.
The ICBC Dubai (DIFC) branch was responsible for the CNH-denominated tranche for the multi-currency issuance, pricing a two years CNH 2 billion note at 3.20 per cent. The note is the first ever carbon-neutrality theme bond issued in the GCC region and the largest CNH-denominated public bond issued within the ICBC Group. The notes generated a warm reception from investors and the final pricing was tightened by 55 basis points compared to the initial guidance, with order books exceeding CNH 14 billion by the time the final guidance was disclosed.
The other tranches included a three-year 300 million euro note at 1.625 per cent, a two-year 2 billion Hong Kong dollar note at 2.95 per cent, a three-year $1.2 billion note at 2.95 per cent and a three-year $600 million floating rate note.
The new issuances raised the total value of ICBC’s bonds listed on Nasdaq Dubai to $4.375 billion, making ICBC the largest Chinese issuer on the exchange.
