Cleary Gottlieb represented Huazhu Group Limited (Huazhu) in a Rule 144A/Reg. S offering of $450 million in aggregate principal amount of 3% convertible senior notes due 2026 and an additional $50 million of the notes pursuant to the exercise in full of a greenshoe option by the initial purchasers.
The notes are convertible into American Depositary Shares (ADSs), each currently representing one ordinary share, par value $0.0001 each, of Huazhu. J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., and UBS Investment Bank served as the joint bookrunners for the notes offering.
The transaction was priced on May 7, 2020. The firm offering was closed on May 12, 2020 and the greenshoe option was closed on May 26, 2020. The notes are not listed on any securities exchange. The ADSs are listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “HTHT.”
Huazhu is a leading and fast-growing multibrand hotel group in China with an international coverage and was China’s second-largest hotel group in terms of the number of hotel rooms as of December 31, 2019, according to public information.