Country Garden Holdings became the first Chinese company to tap the junk-bond market since the outbreak of the financial crisis, raising $300m from a five-year, high-yield bond issue, according to investors and fund managers.

The developer hired JP Morgan as sole book runner on the transaction, which opened for investors on Tuesday and closed yesterday.

The order book amounted to $800m, helping to tighten the price of the bond at a yield of 11.75%, the low end of the indicative yield price that went as high as 12%, people close to the transaction said.

South China Morning Post