Third Overseas Bond Issuance in 2020

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) announced on May 21 that it successfully raised 700 million Australian dollars (US$460 million) on May 20 by issuing kangaroo bonds, which are Australian dollar-denominated bonds issued by a foreign institution in the Australian market.

The kangaroo bonds were issued in a dual tranche structure: the first tranche of 500 million Australian dollars carries a floating rate while the remaining 200 million Australian dollars carries a fixed rate with three-year maturity. Subscriptions from a total of 57 investors totaled 1.7 billion Australian dollars, allowing the bank to issue the bonds on more favorable terms compared to U.S. dollar-denominted bonds. The lead managers were JP Morgan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, National Australian Bank (NAB) and Westpac.

The bank was the first Asian institution to issue kangaroo bonds since the spread of the new coronavirus in 2020.

KEXIM first issued kangaroo bonds in 2012. It has since raised 4.8 billion Australian dollars by issuing kangaroo bonds, the largest amount among Asian institutions. Since the start of 2020, the Korean state-run bank has successfully issued its third foreign currency bonds after US$500 million in global bonds in February and US$700 million in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds and 700 million euros in euro-denominated bonds in April.

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