Davis Polk & Wardwell has advised Tencent Holdings Ltd on its $2.5 billion bond issuance, the initial issue of the Internet giant’s $5 billion global medium-term notes (GMTN) programme. Clifford Chance provided legal advice to the arranger, Deutsche Bank, as well as to the other dealers of the programme and the managers on the initial issue.

The dual-tranche issuance of the Hong Kong-listed Tencent consists of $500 million senior notes due 2017 with an annual interest rate of 2 percent and $2 billion senior notes due 2019 with a coupon of 3.375 percent.

In a statement, Tencent said the net proceeds of the notes would be used “for general corporate purposes.” The bond programme is deemed as a positive development for Tencent as the company continues to expand its operations, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Clifford Chance team was led by capital markets partners Crawford Brickley and Matt Fairclough, while partner Avrohom Gelber in the New York office provided U.S. tax advice.

Founded in 1998, Shenzhen-based Tencent is one of China’s largest Internet companies, offering services such as social networking, an online portal and an online gaming platform. The company has been listed in Hong Kong since 2004.

Tencent is expected step up investments this year in digital content, mobile utilities, online financial services and the global expansion of messaging platform WeChat, which has an estimated 400 million users, according to the South China Morning Post.

Gaming is another focus for the company, which is the biggest firm by revenue in the global gaming market, the newspaper said.