HSBC secures best Sri Lanka deal 2010 for Government of Sri Lanka

HSBC having established its presence in Sri Lanka in 1892, is the largest foreign bank and fifth largest commercial bank in the country. The Bank demonstrates an impressive track record of landmark execution and product innovation for Sri Lanka in the international and domestic debt capital and project finance markets. HSBC’s Investment banking function has been a key partner in developing Sri Lanka’s Infrastructure.

Over the past four years HSBC has successfully raised financing in excess of USD three Billion to finance projects such as Telecommunication Network expansion, Highway and Bridge construction, Flyovers, Solar Irrigation, Electricity and Port Development. It is the only bank in Sri Lanka to have consecutively won three Bond mandates by the Government of Sri Lanka starting with its inaugural issue in 2007 and subsequently in 2009 and 2010.

The most recent, 2010 issue was a landmark transaction in being Sri Lanka’s first USD 1 Billion issue which saw a record subscription at a price of 6.25% for 10 year funds.

The success of these mandates were celebrated recently at the Finance Asia awards held in Hong Kong recently, where the Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Lanka Siriwardena accepted the accolade “Best Sri Lanka Deal 2010” for the US$1 Billion sovereign bond due in 2020.  

Siriwardena stated, “We thank Finance Asia for acknowledging this landmark transaction from Sri Lanka. This is the third Sovereign Bond that the Government of Sri Lanka has issued and we are very proud of its success in the international market. Its acceptance by the global investors demonstrated by the order book on the deal only further reinforces the improving fundamentals of Sri Lanka. “

HSBC acted as Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner on the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’s (“Sri Lanka”) third international sovereign bond of a USD 1 Billion 10 year issue with a coupon rate of 6.25%. This attracted an order book that exceeded USD 6.3 billion within 14 hours of opening on 27 September 2010, thereby being over-subscribed more than six times, clearly underscoring the high global investor confidence based on recent progress and the future prospects of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict in the country.  

Nick Nicolaou, Chief Executive Officer for HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives said, “HSBC has strong Debt Capital Market capabilities in Asia. With a team of over 300 Professionals in the region, we have secured this prestigious award for the Government of Sri Lanka on its Benchmark Bond issue. We are committed to support the Government and the corporate sector in various infrastructure development projects in line with national level strategies and we expect a flurry of activity in this space.”

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a principal member of the HSBC Group which, with around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories and assets of US$2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.