Americas

Faltering momentum in Latin American bond issuance has put this year's unprecedented surge of green and sustainable deals on pause. But even if volatility persists, as global bond markets deal with rising US interest rates, LatAm issuers will not only maintain their focus on ESG, but they may find sustainability credentials are more valuable than ever.

Former Olympic gymnast and billionaire entrepreneur Li Ning, founder of sportswear brand Li-Ning, has set up a blank cheque firm targeting the Chinese consumer sector.

Chinese internet giant Baidu has met with a rapid flood of early demand for its Hong Kong secondary offering, which is expected to raise around $3bn.

Peruvian food retail and pharmacy group InRetail Consumer took advantage of calmer markets and the scarcity value of Peruvian corporates to achieve higher oversubscription and greater pricing compression than any Latin American new issue since February 18. on the way to a $600m seven year on Thursday.

As financial institutions across asset classes raised gender-themed funding this week, Colombia’s vice-president Marta Lucía Ramirez took International Women’s Day as a chance to hail the potential of the sovereign using bond markets to fund its gender equality initiatives.

Any fears about the resilience of the US corporate bond market were set aside on Thursday when Verizon Communications amassed a $115bn orderbook and printed one of the biggest deals of the year.

A selloff of growth stocks and primary market indigestion have taken some of the steam out of the booming US convertible bond market, but it remains open to new issuers.

L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp has bagged $250m from its Nasdaq IPO, as it becomes the latest special purpose acquisition company (Spac) focused on Asia to list in the US.

Secondary listings in Hong Kong got a fresh boost this week with online car marketplace Autohome pricing its deal and internet giant Baidu getting ready to roll out its transaction. More homecomings by US-listed Chinese companies are in the pipeline, but the number of viable candidates is shrinking, writes Jonathan Breen.

Coupang, a South Korean e-commerce company, scooped up $4.2bn from its IPO this week, after pricing the deal above the marketed range. It is the largest US listing from Asia since Alibaba Group Holding raised $25bn seven years ago.

As Colombia works on the initial stages of developing a social bond framework, the sovereign has identified gender and immigration as two of its key pillars.

Chilean cable company VTR brought life to the Latin America primary bond market on Wednesday, but the company was unable to tighten its new senior-secured eight-year deal beyond guidance as markets are remaining functional but cautious in the face of rising US Treasury yields, said bankers.