Asean

A $725m loan for Indonesia Eximbank that hit general syndication at the end of May has attracted commitments from 24 lenders.

The Hong Kong unit of Global Logistic Properties has launched on Monday what market participants are calling the first public Panda bond from an international corporate.

Asia’s equity capital markets had a ghastly first quarter before making a slow turnaround, but market watchers are calling for more from the second half of the year. Safe bets such as real estate investment trusts are expected to be hot, while insulated regions such as south and southeast Asia are likely to be a growing source of business. Jonathan Breen reports.

The Singapore Exchange’s electronic bond trading platform, SGX Bond Pro, is planning to expand into Asian local currency notes later this year. While the initial stage of expansion will be in markets closet to home, the exchange’s head of fixed income trading, Tsai Li Renn, told GlobalRMB that linking up with China could also be on the horizon.

Singapore real estate investment trust Mapletree Commercial Trust has hired DBS, Goldman Sachs and HSBC to help it raise equity funding to back a S$1.78bn ($1.33bn) acquisition.

Yihai International Holding has narrowed the price guidance on its up to HK$889.2m ($114.6m) Hong Kong IPO to the upper half of the marketing range, said a source close to the transaction.

UBS has promoted Choo-Guan Yeoh to the newly created position of head of ASEAN equities, putting her in charge of development of the business in the region.

China-based EC World Real Estate Investment Trust has fixed the price range for its Singapore IPO to raise as much as S$365.97m ($272.7m), according to a draft prospectus filed with the city-state’s regulator.

Malaysia’s MRCB-Quill Real Estate Investment Trust is looking to raise MR427m ($106m) through an equity placement in the fourth quarter of this year to part-fund the acquisition of an office tower in the capital.

The impact of the UK’s decision to abandon its European Union membership hit Asian equity capital markets with varying degrees of intensity this week, with some IPOs wobbling and others braving market jitters to launch deals. But orders have become smaller and there is a clear flight to safety among investors. Jonathan Breen and John Loh report.

Cemex Holdings Philippines has raised Ps21.9bn ($465m), pricing its IPO near the bottom of guidance after it was put under pressure by last week’s Brexit decision.

Fullerton Healthcare has made its debut in the Singapore dollar bond market, raising S$100m ($74m) from a deal backed by the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF). Bankers on the trade reckon the issuer’s sector, as well as the bond’s structure and currency, were the winning ingredients to navigate volatility.