Allen & Overy acted as counsel to Sri Lanka on its US$1.5 billion 6.20% 10-year sovereign bond issuance. The offering was sold pursuant to Rule 144A in the United States and pursuant to Regulation S outside of the United States. The A&O team had also acted on the previous US$1.5 billion dual tranche 5.5-year and 10-year bond transaction by Sri Lanka in May 2016.

Chinese banks participated in arranging the sale for the first time, signalling broader ties with Chinese underwriters and corresponding investor pool. Citigroup, CLSA Limited, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ICBC International, J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank acted as the joint lead managers and bookrunners for this transaction.

The Allen & Overy team was led by partner Amit Singh and lawyers David Cameron and Julie Song.

Commenting, Allen & Overy partner Amit Singh said: “It was an honour to have advised Sri Lanka on this very successful transaction. Capital raisings in the debt markets across Asia continue to be very active but representing sovereigns is particularly rewarding for us. This transaction underscores our strength in the sovereign bond space and of our US capital markets practice and we hope to see more such transactions coming to market in the region.”

Allen & Overy has established a strong track record of success in sovereign bonds, most recently advising on sovereign issuances by Fiji, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia and Hong Kong in Asia Pacific, in addition to Sri Lanka’s offering last year.