Demand far outstripped supply. Investors submitted orders worth more than CNY 25 billion for KazMunayGas bonds, compared with an issuance volume of CNY 3.5 billion, DKNews.kz reports.
On August 26, JSC NC KazMunayGas closed the order book for its Dim Sum Eurobond issuance. According to the official KMG statement, the company said the transaction allowed it to secure financing at a historically low borrowing cost for KMG in the Eurobond market.
More than CNY 25 billion in orders for a CNY 3.5 billion issue
Ahead of the placement, KMG held a two-day roadshow in Hong Kong and met with leading Asian investors.
At its peak, the order book exceeded CNY 25 billion. That was more than seven times the announced issue size of CNY 3.5 billion.
According to the company, the book became the largest ever for a Dim Sum bond issuance by an issuer outside China and Hong Kong.
Investors included banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and sovereign investment funds. This indicates that demand came from a broad range of institutional investors rather than a single large buyer.
KMG borrowed in yuan for both five and ten years
The issuance was divided into two tranches.
The first consists of CNY 1.5 billion in five-year bonds with an annual coupon rate of 2.3% and a yield of 2.45%.
The second tranche consists of CNY 2 billion in ten-year bonds with an annual coupon of 2.8% and a yield of 2.98%. The placement is scheduled for September 2, 2026. The same parameters were also published by the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, KASE.
For KMG, one of the key indicators is the cost of borrowing. The company said the transaction represented its historically lowest funding cost in the Eurobond market.
Moody’s assigned a Baa1 rating to the issue
Moody’s assigned the bonds a Baa1 credit rating, in line with KMG’s own rating.
The company plans to use the proceeds to finance its large-scale investment programme.
The size of that programme is reflected in KMG’s latest annual reporting. At the end of 2025, the total value of investment projects involving KMG stood at KZT 62.499 trillion, including KZT 22.354 trillion attributable to the company itself, taking into account its participation in megaprojects and joint ventures. These figures are included in KMG’s 2025 annual report.
In 2025, KMG made final investment decisions on projects worth a combined KZT 544 billion, of which KZT 531 billion represented the company’s share. The projects include petrochemicals and the modernization of oil refineries.
KMG’s total debt exceeds KZT 3 trillion
The new issuance comes at a time when the company already carries a substantial debt portfolio.
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, KMG’s total debt stood at KZT 3.504 trillion, while net debt amounted to KZT 573 billion. At the end of 2025, total debt was KZT 3.522 trillion.
At the same time, the company’s financial performance improved in the first half of 2026. Revenue reached KZT 5.568 trillion, EBITDA totaled KZT 1.655 trillion, while net profit including the share of profit from joint ventures and associates reached KZT 904 billion.
The new borrowing should therefore be viewed not as an isolated transaction, but as part of the financing strategy of a major oil and gas group with a large investment programme and an existing debt portfolio.
Why KMG chose the Dim Sum market
Dim Sum bonds are yuan-denominated bonds issued outside mainland China.
For KMG, Hong Kong became the key market for preparing the transaction. The company held its two-day investor roadshow there before closing the order book.
The issuance was arranged by BOC International, Bank of China (Hong Kong), China CITIC Bank International, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited and Citi.
Halyk Finance acted as the Kazakh lead manager. BOCOM International and Industrial Bank Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Branch served as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.
For KMG, the result is not measured only by the CNY 3.5 billion raised. The company attracted more than CNY 25 billion in demand and built what it described as the largest order book in the history of Dim Sum issues by borrowers outside China and Hong Kong.
That gap between supply and demand became the central figure of the transaction: for every one yuan of bonds offered, investors were prepared to submit orders worth more than seven yuan.
We recently wrote about Kazakhstan strengthening its investment dialogue with Hong Kong businesses. KMG’s latest placement adds another dimension to that relationship — direct access by Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas company to Asian investors through the offshore yuan bond market.
