LG Electronics seeks to sell global bonds, 1st time in 12 yrs

LG Electronics Inc. is seeking to issue dollar-denominated bonds, its first global bond sale in 12 years, according to people with knowledge of the matter on Monday.

The South Korean home appliances maker will kick off a global road show for the issues on Tuesday and finalize the size of the bond sale after the bookbuilding.

This is its first global debt sale after raising $215 million in bonds in the Swiss franc in 2012.

The sources said the new bond issue, senior unsecured debt in the dollar currency, is set to be LG Electronics’ biggest-ever global bond sale.

S&P rated the new issues, including sustainability bonds, as BBB. The rating could change depending on its final terms and conditions.

LG will use the proceeds for business diversification, R&D and facility investment to strengthen its business competitiveness.

BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC, JPMorgan, Korea Development Bank and Standard Chartered are joint bookrunners.

The bond issuance comes after LG Electronics reported its largest-ever quarterly revenue in the first quarter of this year, maintaining upward momentum after a stellar 2023. Subscription-based services and business-to-business sales of home appliances were its main growth drivers.

LG and other companies with investment-grade ratings are returning to the bond market to capitalize on ample market liquidity as investors are snapping up bonds before interest rates come down later this year.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at Why29@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.