Crédit Agricole S.A. in RMB1 Billion Panda Bond Offering and Filing of New RMB10 Billion Panda Bond Program in China

Cleary Gottlieb represented Crédit Agricole S.A. in its panda bond offering of RMB1 billion (around €129 million at current exchange rate) senior preferred bonds due 2026 under its previous RMB10 billion panda bond program in China.

The proceeds will be retained in RMB and used onshore to support Crédit Agricole S.A.’s and its subsidiaries’ business activities and development in the People’s Republic of China.

The offering closed on November 28, 2023, and was led by Bank of China Limited, as lead underwriter and lead bookrunner, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Agricultural Bank of China Limited, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (China) Limited, China Industrial Bank Co. Ltd, Fubon Bank (China) Co. Ltd, CITIC Securities Company Limited, and Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd, as joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners. The panda bonds will mature in 2026 and bear a fixed interest rate of 3.2% per annum.

Cleary also represented Crédit Agricole S.A. in the filing of its new RMB10 billion panda bond issuance program in China with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) under which Crédit Agricole S.A. may, from time to time for a period of two years from the date of the PBOC approval, issue RMB-denominated bonds in an aggregate principal amount of up to RMB10 billion (around €1.29 billion at current exchange rate).

Up to 100% of the net proceeds from the offering of the bonds under the new RMB10 billion panda bond issuance program will be retained in RMB or swapped to other currencies to be used offshore for the general corporate purposes of Crédit Agricole S.A., subject to the onshore RMB funding needs of Crédit Agricole S.A. and market conditions. The net proceeds from the first issuance will be used onshore or offshore for the general corporate purposes of Crédit Agricole S.A., subject to the onshore RMB funding needs of Crédit Agricole S.A. and market conditions.

Crédit Agricole S.A. is the lead bank of the Crédit Agricole Group, which is the largest banking group in France, and one of the largest in the world.