The first international bond issued by Yili received offers totaling $3.6bn, seven times the issued amount, from a wide range of investors, including banking, insurance, fund, and asset management companies as well as other types of institutions.
During the pricing process, a 35 basis point rate cut was applied based on the initial price guidance, ensuring a final price of 125 basis points over US Treasuries and a coupon rate of 1.625%, a record-low coupon rate for comparable bonds issued by enterprises from the same sector.
Moody's and Standard & Poor's recently assigned A3 and A- ratings, respectively, to Yili, making Yili the only A-rated dairy company in China to date and the Chinese consumer goods company with the best international rating.
In 2019, Yili, which has a portfolio of more than 1,000 products, generated a revenue of RMB 90.223bn ($13.72bn), achieving a year-on-year increase of 13.41%. This gave it the top ranking among all Asian dairy companies for the sixth consecutive year and an increase of RMB 10bn ($1.52bn) for the second year running. In the first three quarters of 2020, Yili Group continued to grow against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and generated a revenue of RMB 73.77bn ($11.22bn).
Moody's said it expects a similar growth rate over the next two to three years, underpinned by favorable demand for dairy products, Yili’s diversified and evolving product portfolio, and planned capacity expansion.
