Asean

Commodities trader Trafigura has seen big success with its syndicated loan, bumping up its fundraising to $2.2bn from the launch size of $1.6bn.

Mizuho Bank has raised Bt3bn ($83m) from its debut in the Thai bond market, with the deal also marking the first offering under a new pan-Asian initiative designed to streamline debt issuance. The trade received a robust response from investors, and is expected to pave the way for other similar transactions.

The leads on HM Sampoerna’s Rph20.8tr ($1.4bn) follow-on have told investors that the trade is covered across the price range, after the Indonesian unit of Philip Morris International attracted a slew of long-only investors.

Korean banks have pulled back from the Samurai market, as funding costs have moved against them, but some other names have stepped into the breach. Australian banks are a key fixture in the Samurai markets, while the arrival of Maybank this year gives a pointer to future issuance. Asia Pacific financial institutions issuers are also proving instrumental in the steady development of the Pro-Bond market. Volatility in China, however, is not helping anybody. In September, some of Asia Pacific’s leadering FIG borrowers spoke to GlobalCapital about prospects in the Japanese capital markets.

An evolution is happening in emerging market issuers’ use of yen funding. For many years, many of them have only been able to issue Samurai bonds by using JBIC’s GATE (Guarantee and Acquisition toward Tokyo market Enhancement) programme, but steadily more of them are stepping up to standalone issuance. At the same time, benchmark borrowers are bringing along less established issuers from the same countries in their wake

The Samurai bond market has long been a key source of returns for investors in the local market, and those investors have plenty more to look forward to. But a challenging swap market could limit issuance. Matthew Thomas reports.

Coal miner Adaro Energy Indonesia has initiated talks with its relationship banks for a loan to refinance existing debt, with a request for proposals expected soon.

Indonesian oil and gas conglomerate Pertamina has picked three banks for a potential bond and is set to hit the road to meet investors.

Indonesia has put a firmer focus on the sukuk market over the last few years, and now plans to raise almost a quarter of its funding from sukuk investors. But although the government has done an admirable job flying the flag for Islamic bond issuance, the country's corporations have yet to follow suit in a meaningful way, reports Matthew Thomas.

Thailand has a lot to offer foreign issuers hoping to find funding opportunities in the offshore markets, but tougher regulations for foreign names and an illiquid swap market can put some issuers off. Perhaps not for long. Asiamoney talks to a group of leading market participants about the opportunities for foreign and domestic issuers in the Thai baht bond market.

Thailand's bond market still has a long way to grow to reach its potential, but in the diversity of credits and the availability of high yield borrowers, it has already achieved much that its peers in the ASEAN region are still dreaming about. Asiamoney sat down with a panel of high-level market participants to discuss Thailand's growing domestic debt market.

Indonesia is one of the largest emerging economies in the world. It should be unsurprising that the country has a huge infrastructure spending plan to meet over the next five years. Asiamoney sits down with a panel of senior market participants to discuss the best source of infrastructure funding over the coming years, and how that funding should be split between the government and the private sector.