7 5월 2020 Capital Markets - Equity

An in-depth study into Liability Management Transactions – DCM Webinar Series

More than ever, liability management presents a hugely valuable tool for issuers – whether it be to optimise their balance sheets and capital structures, manage relationships with investors, react to new business and market developments, respond to changes in the regulatory landscape or other commercial and legal drivers, issuers should always be thinking of how they can more effectively recalibrate their balance of debt and equity. This is particularly pertinent given the significant volume and diversity of debt issuances across mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and other key Asian jurisdictions in the last few years and the uptick in market volatility in more recent times.

Against this backdrop, we launched our five-part “Liability Management Transactions” webinar series to provide our clients with an in-depth study into liability management transactions. 

Topics included:

  • Overview of Market Trends
  • Tender Offers and On-market Buybacks
  • Exchange Offers
  • Consent Solicitations
  • U.S. Law Considerations in Liability Management

Following each webinar session, we issued corresponding client notes in English and Chinese to our debt capital markets clients. Please see the links below to access video recordings of all five sessions and copies of the corresponding bilingual client notes. 

As always, we encourage you to get in touch with us and speak to your usual Linklaters’ contact if you have any questions.

对于发行人来说，债务管理在今时今日比以往任何时候都更具价值 —— 无论是为了优化资产负债表和资本结构，管理与投资者的关系，应对业务和市场的新发展或监管格局的新变化，或出于其他商业和法律考量，发行人日益关注如何更有效地重新调整其负债权益。鉴于过去几年来中国大陆、香港特别行政区和亚洲其他主要司法管辖区的债券发行数量庞大且种类繁多，加上近期市场波动加剧，债务管理变得尤为重要。

在这一背景下，年利达律师事务所香港特区资本市场团队特别准备了五期债务管理交易深入研究系列网络研讨会，与客户深入探讨债务管理交易。在本系列网络研讨会中，探讨的主题包括﹕

  • 系列网络研讨会简介及市场趋势概述
  • 回购要约及公开市场回购
  • 交换要约
  • 征求同意
  • 美国境内有关债务管理的法律问题

我们于每期网络研讨会结束后均向我们的资本市场客户发布了相关的中英文客户通讯。请点击以下链接，查阅五期网络研讨会的视频及相关的双语客户通讯。

如果您有任何疑问，欢迎随时与我们或您的日常年利达联系人联系。

Session 1: Introduction to our webinar series and overview of market trends

第一期: 系列网络研讨会简介及市场趋势概述

Speakers: William Liu, Partner / Michael Ng, Partner / Andrew Payne, Partner / Karen Cheng, Counsel

This is the first of our five liability management webinars that was held on 28 April 2020 for our debt capital markets clients. 

In this session, we consider recent market trends in mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and other key Asian jurisdictions, as well as an overview of the main types of liability management. 

2020年4月28日我们举办了债务管理系列网络研讨会的第一期，这个客户通讯是这次研讨会的后续补充说明。

在这个客户通讯中，我们会讨论中国大陆、香港特别行政区和亚洲其他主要司法管辖区的近期市场走势并将对债务管理的几个主要类型进行概述。

> Click here to watch the video

> Click here to view the full summary

> 按此查阅中文版全文

Session 2: Tender offers and on-market buybacks

第二期：回购要约及公开市场回购

Speakers: Terence Lau, Partner / Hanwen Yu, Partner / Taiki Ki, Counsel

This is the second of our five liability management webinars that was held on 5 May 2020 for our debt capital markets clients.

The session featured an in-depth discussion on tender offers and on-market buybacks, including:

  • Potential legal restrictions;
  • Disclosure obligations and inside information concerns;
  • Identifying bondholders and dealing with U.S. holders;
  • Minimum offer periods; and
  • Combined tender offers and new bond issuances.

这个客户通讯是我们针对为资本市场客户于2020年5月5日举办的第二期研讨会的后续补充说明。在本期网络研讨会中，我们对回购要约和公开市场回购进行深入探讨，包括：

  • 潜在的法律限制问题；
  • 披露义务以及内幕消息考量；
  • 债券持有人身份识别以及与美国债券持有人的交易；
  • 最短要约收购的开放期；及
  • 涉及回购要约与新债券发行的组合结构。

> Click here to watch the video

> Click here to view the full summary

> 按此查阅中文版全文

Session 3: Exchange offers

第三期:交换要约

Speakers: Sherry Cui, Partner / Karen Cheng, Counsel

This is the third of our five liability management webinars that was held on 12 May 2020 for our debt capital markets clients.

The session featured an in-depth discussion on exchange offers, including:

  • Reasons for conducting exchange offers;
  • Pricing and structural considerations when undertaking an exchange offer;
  • Practical and commercial issues to consider where a new money tranche is being undertaken concurrently with the exchange offer; and
  • Other interesting issues from case studies including third party exchange offers and securing anchor bondholder support.

这个客户通讯是我们针对资本市场客户于2020年5月12日举办的第三期研讨会的后续补充说明。在本期网络研讨会中，我们对交换要约进行深入探讨，包括：

  • 发起交换要约的原因；
  • 进行交换要约时所需考虑的定价及结构问题；
  •  新系列债券发行及交换要约同时进行时所需考虑的实际及商业问题；及
  • 其他在设计交换要约结构时需考虑的问题，包括第三方交换要约以及锁定主要债券持有人支持等。

Session 4: Consent Solicitations

第四期﹕征求同意

Speakers: William Liu, Partner / Gloria Cheung, Partner / Arjun Muddu, Counsel

This is the fourth of our five liability management webinars that was held on 19 May 2020 for our debt capital markets clients.

The session featured an in-depth discussion on consent solicitations, including:

  • The reasons for conducting consent solicitations;
  • “Squeeze out” consents, what they are, how they work and issues to look out for; and
  • The challenges associated with bondholder committees and holdouts.

这个客户通讯是我们针对资本市场客户于2020年5月19日举办的第四期研讨会的后续补充说明。在本期网络研讨会中，我们对征求同意进行深入探讨，包括：

  • 发起征求同意的原因；
  • 以“强制挤出”为目的的征求同意以及需要注意的相关事项；及
  •  债券持有人委员会及其坚持所带来的挑战。

Session 5 - U.S. Law Considerations in Liability Management

第五期﹕美国境内有关债务管理的法律问题

Speakers: Hyung Ahn, Partner / Shan Jiang, Senior U.S. Associate

This is the fifth liability management webinar of the series that was held on 26 May 2020 for our debt capital markets clients.

The session covered a range of common U.S. law issues that impact liability management transactions, including:

  • How to exclude U.S. holders;
  • U.S. law considerations for exchange offers;
  • The “new security” doctrine in consent solicitations;
  • Process and thresholds in NY law governed bond instruments; and
  • Common issues in U.S. “abbreviated tender offer” structures.

这个客户通讯是我们针对资本市场客户于2020年5月26日举办的最后一期债务管理系列网络研讨会的后续补充说明。在本期网络研讨会中，我们对美国境内有关债务管理的法律问题进行深入探讨，包括：

  • 如何在交易中排除美国债券持有人；
  • 交换要约中涉及的美国法律考虑因素；
  • 征求同意交易中的“新证券”原则；
  • 受纽约法管辖债券的征求同意交易的程序和条件；以及
  • 美国“简易回购要约”结构的常见问题。