International law firms Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance are currently advising Dubai lender Emirates NBD on the Gulf Arab region’s first potential Chinese yuan, according to an ENBD spokesperson.
Walter Son, Allen & Overy’s Hong Kong-based international capital markets practice partner, is leading the deal, a source familiar with the matter said. The firm has been an active adviser within the offshore yuan bond space in recent months.
Allen & Overy too has advised international bank HSBC as lead manager on the Industrial Development Bank of India's inaugural offshore yuan bond issuance in December last year. The firm has also advised on the offshore yuan bond issuances of British supermarket chain Tesco, Unilever, BP, the Asian Development Bank and Caterpillar among others.
The so-called dim sum bonds, which are issued in Hong Kong by Chinese and international companies, are gaining momentum among both domestic and international businesses. The bonds are structured to avoid regulator’s securities laws in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China.
Sources told The Brief last week that Clifford Chance was one of the law firms selected to advise Emirates NBD, as ENBD picked banks to arrange road shows in Hong Kong and Singapore ahead of a potential offshore bond, a so-called "dim sum" issue. Clifford Chance, which has been active in yuan bond issuances outside Germany, recently advised a syndicate of banks formed by the joint lead managers of Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered on a yuan bond issue by a subsidiary of German speciality chemicals group Lanxess. ALB
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