Linklaters has advised on the issue of £750 million Bonds due 2118 (the “Bonds”) by The Wellcome Trust, the UK’s largest charitable foundation and one of the world’s largest funders of medical research. The issue of the Bonds launched and priced on 31 January 2018.

J.P. Morgan acted as lead manager and Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as co-managers in respect of the issue of the Bonds. Linklaters advised the Managers on the transaction.

The issue of the Bonds priced at a spread over 2068 Gilts of 80 basis points. The final coupon of 2.517 per cent. is the all time lowest for a 100 year Sterling bond, the lowest coupon for a 100 year corporate bond in any currency, and the lowest coupon for a Sterling corporate bond with a tenor of longer than fifty years. The initial order book was £3.4 billion and, as a result, was 4.5 times over-subscribed.

The Linklaters team was led by Capital Markets partner Richard Levy and associate Johnny Davidson.

Linklaters recently advised Oxford University on its first ever bond, also raising £750 million, with a maturity of 100 years. The bond will have the longest maturity of any from a British university.