Tencent raises $6 billion in largest Asian corporate debt deal this year

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings Ltd has raised $6 billion in debt, the Chinese technology company said on Thursday, in the largest debt deal by an Asian corporate in 2020.

May 28, 2020

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings Ltd has raised $6 billion in debt, the Chinese technology company said on Thursday, in the largest debt deal by an Asian corporate in 2020.

The deal was finalised early on Thursday in which Tencent raised $1 billion in five-year debt, $2.25 billion in 10-year, $2 billion in 30-year and $750 million in 40-year debt, a term sheet showed.

It was the first time Tencent raised 40-year money in its history.

The transaction was the largest by a non-financial company in the Asian region so far this year, data compiled by Refinitiv showed.

Before the Tencent deal, the biggest was a $4 billion junk bond by Scenic Journey in January and a $2.9 billion bond by Sinopec on May 7, the data showed.

Around $712 billion has been raised by Asia Pacific corporates, not including Tencent’s latest deal, in 2020 which is the strongest start to a year on record, according to Refinitiv data.

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)