Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) on its RMB2 billion (US$328.5 million) yuan-denominated dim sum bond issuance in London.

ICBC, China's largest lender by assets, offered the bonds in two tranches—one for 1.3 billion yuan, with a three-year maturity and a 3.35 percent coupon, and the other at 700 million yuan with a five-year maturity and a 3.75 percent coupon.

Proceeds from the offering will be primarily used to boost offshore yuan-denominated loans for ICBC. ICBC London, ICBC (Asia), ICBC International, The Royal Bank of Scotland, J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited were the underwriters on the issue.

The deal marks the second-ever yuan-denominated dim sum bonds to be offered in London. Last year, China Construction Bank Corp. offered 1 billion yuan worth of yuan-denominated dim sum bonds in London.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team on ICBC's latest bond issue was led by Hong Kong partner Kevin Roy and Beijing partner Tom Chau, who were supported by counsel Zhong Wang, and associates Isaac Chen, Shell Chen and Stanley Xie.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised ICBC on several of its business transactions in recent years. The firm most recently represented the overseas investment arm of ICBC—ICBC International Investment Management Limited—on its US$50 million acquisition of a 6% stake in SCP Company Limited, a Chinese shopping mall operator. Late last year, the firm also advised ICBC on the issuance of its RMB1 billion (US$164.3 million) three-year fixed-rate bonds due 2015, the first overseas RMB bond issuance for ICBC.