4.6 Times Oversubscribed
Korea Western Power Co. (KOWEPO) has issued US$300 million (353.85 billion won) worth of foreign currency bonds at the lowest level of spread among domestic power companies.
KOWEPO announced on July 13 that it has issued 3-year international bonds worth US$300 million (353.85 billion won) with a coupon rate of 2.375 percent. The 0.725 percentage point spread was the lowest among bonds issues by Korean power generation companies.
Asian investors accounted for 70 percent of the subscribers, with the remainder coming from Europe and the Middle East. By type, central banks and sovereign wealth funds took up 41 percent, asset management companies and funds 35 percent, banks 18 percent, insurance companies 5 percent and PB and other investors 1 percent.
KOWEPO said subscriptions totaled US$1.40 billion (1.65 trillion won) from 75 investors, 4.6 times higher than the issuance, despite growing uncertainties about the Korean economy fueled by Japan's recent export curbs on core semiconductor components and materials bound for South Korea.
This was largely due to a positive investment sentiment from the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the truce village of Panmunjom on June 30 and the South Korean government’s successful issuance of foreign exchange equalization bonds.