Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on two debt issuances in Indonesia: Republic of Indonesia's landmark US$2.5 billion sukuk and Perusahaan Listrik Negara's US$1.5 billion bond issuance

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has acted for BNP Paribas, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank on the Republic of Indonesia's US$2.5 billion sukuk issuance under the Republic's trust certificates issuance program.

The Republic of Indonesia issued three tranches of certificates, consisting of US$750 million 2.300% trust certificates due 2025, US$1 billion 2.800% trust certificates due 2030 and US$750 million 3.800% trust certificates due 2050, with a wakala structure. The 5-year tranche is a green sukuk, and the 30-year tranche is a first by the Republic.

The landmark issuance is listed on the Singapore stock exchange and NASDAQ Dubai and will help fund Indonesia's Covid-19 relief and recovery efforts. This is the third sovereign issuance by the Republic of Indonesia on which Clifford Chance has assisted this year.

Partners Qudeer Latif and Johannes Juette led the deal, with support from partner Gareth Deiner, senior associate Shashwat Tewary, associate Stephanie Liman and trainee solicitor Mehjabin Ahmed.

Clifford Chance has also acted for Citigroup, HSBC, Mandiri Securities and Standard Chartered Bank on a US$1.5 billion issuance by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) ("PLN"), Indonesia's state-owned electricity company. The issuance comprised US$500 million 3.00% notes due 2030 and US$1 billion 4.00% notes due 2050.

Partner Johannes Juette led the deal, with support from partner Gareth Deiner, associate Stephanie Liman, trainee solicitor Eugenio Decio and legal executive Daniel Dedo.

Johannes commented, “We are proud to have demonstrated our strong commitment to Indonesia through these landmark issuances. These transactions were great successes for the Republic and PLN, and they demonstrate Indonesia's strong reputation in the international capital markets and continued investor appetite for Indonesian credit, even in a difficult global environment.”

Clifford Chance has advised on most of the sovereign and sovereign-linked bond transactions out of Indonesia in 2020, including: advising Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers on the Republic of Indonesia's US$4.3 billion three-tranche bond issuance under its U.S. SEC-registered bond program; advising CIMB, DBS Bank, Mandiri Securities, MUFG and Standard Chartered Bank as managers on Bank Mandiri's US$500 million bond offering; and acting for Bank of New York Mellon as trustee on the US$600m debut bond issuance by Indonesia's state-owned construction company Hutama Karya; and on the US$2.5 billion three-tranche bond issuance by PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium ("Inalum"), the state-owned designated holding company for Indonesia's metals and mining assets.