2024.08.28
In August 2024, Laohekou Highway Construction Co., Ltd. (“Laohekou Highway”) issued RMB 144 million senior unsecured offshore bonds through Laohekou Highway International Limited, its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary. The bonds will mature in 364 days and were listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on August 7, 2024. This was the first successful offshore bond issuance within Xiangyang City, Hubei Province.
Laohekou Highway was established in September 1998 and is engaged in the construction of highways, medium- and long-span bridges, municipal projects and the production and processing of asphalt concrete and precast components. As a state-owned enterprise under the actual control of the Transportation Bureau of Laohekou City, Laohekou Highway provides urban infrastructure construction and management on behalf of the government.
JunHe was the sole legal counsel in this project and JunHe’s domestic and overseas teams joined efforts to provide one-stop legal services. The close cooperation between the firm’s domestic and overseas offices improved the efficiency of communication and saved time and costs to the client. There were only seven weeks from the preparation to the successful bond issuance.
JunHe’s Hong Kong team acted as international counsel and the trustee’s counsel, while the Shanghai team acted as PRC legal counsel. Our Hong Kong team drafted the offering circular and the transaction documents, assisted in the pricing and closing arrangements, issued the offshore legal opinions, advised on the listing of the bonds on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and provided full legal services under both British and Hong Kong laws. Our Shanghai team assisted Laohekou Highway in the offshore structuring and ODI filing, conducted Chinese legal due diligence, reviewed and amended the transaction documents, issued the Chinese legal opinions, and provided full legal services under Chinese laws. With its rigorous and efficient legal services and detail-oriented and professional expertise, JunHe’s team was recognized, trusted and praised by the issuer and the other intermediaries.
The project was led by JunHe partner Phyllis Xu Partners Chris Tang and Lee, Alex Jao Jang from JunHe’s Hong Kong office advised the placement agent and the trustee, respectively. Partner Chen, Yijia from JunHe’s Shanghai office provided professional support and partner YE, Junli was responsible for the internal control matters in the project.
