이 기사는 2021년 03월 24일 07시56분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s internet giant Naver has raised $500 million from its maiden issuance of euro bonds under RegS format on Monday.

The offering included fixed rate bonds with a five-year maturity, attracting investors from Asia and Europe.

On the back of strong demand, the final spread was 68 basis points over US Treasuries, much tighter than the initial price guidance of 90 basis points over US Treasuries.

Naver priced its bond at a level comparable to existing issuers of Korean Papers, which refer to foreign currency debt issued by South Korean entities abroad. Strong demand was partly due to a lack of Korean Paper supply and Naver's increased brand awareness in the global markets.

Labeled as sustainability bonds, the bonds also attracted interest from socially responsible investors. Sustainability bonds are a type of ESG bonds, which are aimed to finance corporate activities in environmental, social responsibility and governance improvement.

Naver recently received A3 and A- ratings from global credit rating agencies Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings. It has become the first internet company in the nation with global credit ratings and the sixth non-financial company with credit ratings of A or above, following Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDS, SK Telecom, SK Broadband and KT.

Morgan Stanley and Mirae Asset Daewoo acted as bookrunners. (Reporting by Hye-rim Pi)