Volvo Treasury AB successfully completes first syndicated bond issuance on Origin, raising €1bn in a dual tranche deal
London, 25 May 2023
Volvo Treasury AB has successfully completed a dual tranche, €1bn syndicated benchmark bond issuance via the Origin platform.
Transaction is first truly syndicated bond issuance on Origin, bringing together multiple banks and law firms to collaborate. The platform was used as part of the documentation process, from preparing the initial termsheet through to listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Citi was mandated as the Documentation Bank on this transaction. The other active bookrunners included ING, Mizuho and Societe Generale.
Allen & Overy acted as underwriters’ counsel, and Clifford Chance Paris acted as Issuer’s counsel
Volvo Treasury AB, advised by a group of banks including active bookrunners Citi, ING, Mizuho and Societe Generale, has successfully issued a dual tranche €1bn benchmark Senior Unsecured bond in the first fully syndicated bond issuance on the Origin platform. This follows a private placement transaction already issued by Volvo via Origin.
Origin's Documentation product was used to automatically draft all key pre- and post-transaction documents including the Termsheet, as well as the Final Terms, Subscription Agreement, and Signing and Closing Agenda. The security was listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange via Origin’s digital listing API.
This marks the first time that the Origin platform was used in a transaction with multiple counterparties over the platform, including multiple bookrunners, as well as both underwriter’s and issuer’s counsel. Once the economic terms were confirmed, Allen & Overy held the pen to draft the Final Terms, Subscription Agreement and Signing and Closing Agenda. These documents were again shared amongst the syndicate of bookrunners, Volvo, and Clifford Chance as Issuer counsel.
Once executed, Volvo was able to list the security on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) via the platform, making use Origin and LuxSE's digital listing API.
Danijel Afolter, Portfolio Manager at the Volvo Treasury AB said: "Volvo’s capital markets presence in recent years has increased in line with the growth of the underlying business. That means we are a frequent issuer working with many banks. We are issuing very standardized products with a post trade process that hasn’t changed for decades. Origin offers us a way to efficiently standardize these processes and bring them to the digital era. Having seen draft trade documentation ready just a couple of hours after bond pricing really made me aware of the opportunity to improve efficiency.”
Raja Palaniappan, CEO at Origin said: "This transaction marks another step in Origin's plan to digitise the entire primary issuance process, from front to back. 'Multiplayer' syndicated transactions like this are exponentially more complex than private placements, with many more complicated workflows to get right. This success is built upon the foundations of the over 150+ successful private placement transactions Origin has already been involved in, helping us continuously iterate, improve, and extend our product. Huge kudos to the Origin team over the past few years."
About Origin
Headquartered in London, Origin is a leading player in the digitisation of debt capital markets, helping dealers and issuers streamline the issuance process from start to finish. Founded in 2015, is now used by over 20 dealers and 100 issuers across 70 cities worldwide.
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