Largest Ever in Korea
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) announced on June 21 that it issued 850 million Australian dollars (about US$580 million) in kangaroo bonds on June 20. Kangaroo bonds are Australian dollar-denominated bonds issued by foreign organizations in the Australian capital market.
They are comprised of bonds worth AU$500 million with a three-year maturity and bonds worth AU$350 million with a five-year maturity. They were the largest amount of kangaroo bonds ever issued by a Korean issuer and have the largest number of investors.
Korea Eximbank explained that it was able to attract participation from a wide range of investors by accurately catching the recent trend of investors preferring short-term bonds in the Australian bond market and adding a three-year maturity in addition to the always-popular five-year maturity.
With this issuance, Korea Eximbank has now issued a total of AU$6.1 billion in kangaroo bonds on 11 occasions since its first issuance in 2012, maintaining its position as Korea’s largest kangaroo bond issuer on a cumulative basis.