Asean

The Philippines’ equity capital market came to life this week with two back-to-back overnight transactions, with Puregold Price Club and Ayala Corp in the limelight.

Philippine supermarket chain Puregold Price Club raised Ps4.69bn ($90m) from a top-up placement on Wednesday.

Indonesia’s Alam Sutera Realty nabbed $175m from investors on Tuesday, as it attempted to beat the clock on its impending maturities.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp has bagged Ps11.7bn ($244.35m) from a much sought-after sell-down of shares in Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp, according to a source close to the deal.

Hyosung Vina Chemicals is holding bank presentations and a site visit at the end of January to woo lenders with a $750m syndicated financing that has been relaunched with a smaller size, higher margins and a different bookrunning team.

MUFG has appointed three veteran bankers to senior positions in its Malaysian subsidiary.

BNP Paribas made a comeback to the Singapore dollar bond market to shore up its capital, bringing the year’s first Basel III-compliant tier two outing in the currency.

ASM Pacific Technology is tapping the offshore loan market for the first time, raising a HK$2.25bn ($287m) five year borrowing to refinance a convertible bond maturing in March.

The Philippines is preparing a sovereign catastrophe bond, the World Bank said on Monday. The imperilled country could be the next to use the instrument as insurance against natural disasters.

Dollar bond issuance in Asia appears to have got off to a strong start, with a rally both in the primary and secondary markets. But that is not enough for many DCM bankers in the region, who are hoping for a bigger upside.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) has launched a $700m multi-tranche loan into general syndication, raising some debate among bankers about the tight pricing on offer.

Indian and Indonesian dollar bonds were buoyed last week by positive investor sentiment that drove secondary market trading and paved the way for fresh debt issuance.