![hong-kong-airport-free-960.jpg](https://assets.euromoneydigital.com/dims4/default/4b8a163/2147483647/strip/true/crop/960x640+0+0/resize/800x533!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feuromoney-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4d%2F5d%2F8dd7d22e49158c1b39e24827a0ab%2Fhong-kong-airport-free-960.jpg)
The $4 billion bond from the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) was quite the curtain-raiser for Asian debt capital markets (DCM) in 2022. It had a bit of everything: record-breaking scale; pointers on investor sentiment in a strikingly unpredictable new year environment; and a greenwashing debate.
The multi-tranche 144a/RegS senior unsecured notes offering was made up of a $600 million 40-year tranche, 30- and 10-year tranches at $1.2 billion apiece, and a $1 billion five-year green tranche. It priced on January 5 at spreads ranging from 42.6 basis points over Treasuries at the short end to 140 over old long bond (OLB) at the long.
Viewed as a whole, it is a notable deal: the largest US dollar bond from a Hong Kong issuer since Hutchison Whampoa in 2003; the largest bond from an airport operator since 2017 when nobody had ever heard of Covid; and the longest tenor achieved by a Hong Kong issuer.
The success of this transaction shows, perhaps, the confidence in society that we are going to crack this Covid thing
![Jonathan Drew_400x225.jpg](https://assets.euromoneydigital.com/dims4/default/53ad83a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/400x225+0+0/resize/800x450!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Feuromoney-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff6%2F80%2F302750d34a19bda215b732a64699%2Fjonathan-drew-400x225.jpg)
“In the context of historical issuance from this part of the world, the deal’s size is remarkable,” says Alvin Yeo, head of green and sustainable finance, leveraged DCM at UBS.
It