이 기사는 2022년 05월 04일 08:05 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s Korea Expressway Corporation plans to issue Korean paper, which refers to foreign currency-denominated securities sold abroad by Korean entities.

Korea Expressway has started a process to sell a global bond (144A/RegS), according to industry sources on Monday. Citigroup Global Markets Securities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC and BNP Paribas are joint bookrunners.

The company is expected to hold a two-day investor call on May 6 and 9 and carry out bookbuilding next week.

The proceeds from the bond sale are expected to be used to refinance foreign currency debts. The offering is likely to be less than $500 million.

This will mark Korea Expressway’s first Korean paper issuance since May 2021. Back then, the company raised $500 million in a U.S. dollar-denominated ESG (environment, social and governance) bond sale. It also raised 50 billion won in a SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) bond issuance in October 2021.

The Korean paper market saw its volatility spiked last week as the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled a more hawkish stance in hiking interest rates. KB Koomin Bank and BNK Busan Bank decided to postpone its planned bookbuilding amid unfavorable market conditions.

Korea Expressway will sell its bond after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for May 3 and 4.

Following Korea Expressway, the Export-Import Bank of Korea plans to hold bookbuilding in the third week of May. The bank hired its bookrunners last week and started to monitor market conditions.

Korea Expressway has a rating of Aa2 by credit ratings agency Moody's and AA by S&P. (Reporting by Ji-won Kim)