Herbert Smith and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have bagged lead roles advising on the largest-ever Chinese high-yield bond offering for a private company.

Herbert Smith advised underwriters Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as joint lead managers on the $600m (£303m) high-yield bond offering by Chinese leading real estate developer, Shimao Property Holdings, which closed last month (29 November).

The Singapore-listed bonds, which were split between a fixed-income and shorterdated floating rate tranche, were also sold to US institutional investors through a Rule 144A offering.

Herbert Smith's five-member team was led by corporate partner Kevin Roy, assisted by Matt Emsley, Margie Chan, Nancy Xu and Jonty Lim.

Freshfields corporate partners Tim Steinert and Teresa Ko headed a six-member team advising Shimao.

Herbert Smith's Roy said: "This deal marks a significant milestone for us, as it demonstrates our ability to execute high-yield bond offerings for our underwriting clients."