China's Sinopec raises HK$7.75 billion exchangeable bond, term sheet shows

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY, May 13 (Reuters) - China's Sinopec 600028.SS has raised HK$7.75 billion ($994.42 million) through an exchangeable bond, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

The coupon for the seven-year bond was set at 0.75% and will be issued by a unit of Sinopec Group, the term sheet said. The coupon price range was zero to 0.99% when the deal was launched on Tuesday.

The bonds will be exchangeable into its Hong Kong listed-subsidiary Sinopec shares 0386.HK, the term sheet said. The bond has an exchange price of HK$6, 47.1% above Sinopec's Hong Kong closing price of HK$4.08 on Tuesday.

Sinopec did not respond to a faxed request for comment sent outside of normal business hours.

The company, which is world's largest refining group by capacity, plans to use the proceeds raised from the transaction to pay down debt, according to the term sheet.

The deal is being led by Goldman Sachs as the sole book runner.

Sinopec said in April its first-quarter profit fell by 27.6% versus a year earlier, weighed down by lower oil prices and as its refining operations grappled with declining fuel sales and thin margins.

($1 = 7.7935 Hong Kong dollars)