Asean

Ezion Holdings has opened books for a five year Singapore dollar bond offering, which is supported by a loan facility from DBS, the first time such a structure has been seen in the city state.

It has been mooted for years but investors are finally getting their first taste of covered bonds out of Singapore with the Lion City’s largest bank DBS opening books to a dollar offering on July 29.

BNP Paribas has named a new head of country for Vietnam and chief executive officer of its Ho Chi Minh City branch.

Vietnam’s Sacombank has completed an overseas fundraising of $50m, with a group of five lenders supplying the funds. The loan comes close on the heels of a borrowing by Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) that is now in its final leg. An overall lull in the syndicated loan market this year has driven banks to look beyond larger southeast Asian economies for business.

Sri Rejeki Isman (SriTex) is seeking to return to the dollar bond market for up to $420m in the second half of the year.

Malaysia’s Ranhill Group, which was forced to shelve an MR753m ($197m) IPO in 2013, will be making a comeback after the reverse takeover of its power and water assets received the approval of the regulators, paving the way for a MR660m deal.

Central China Securities Co wrapped up a HK$2.53bn ($327m) placement on July 24, allowing its shares to resume trading on Monday after what had turned out to be a longer-than-usual bookbuilding process.

Commodities trader Gunvor Singapore has exercised an accordion feature to increase the amount of its latest revolver to $1.0627bn, with seven lenders joining the 31-strong syndicate. This is the second increase by the company, which was initially seeking $550m and wound up the borrowing at $911.7m on the back of strong demand.

There is little doubt that the Republic of Indonesia is one of the most recognisable Asian borrowers in the international debt market, approaching investors with regular, sensibly-priced issues that have won it plaudits from fund managers and bankers alike. But despite its steadfast reputation among the global investor base, the country cannot afford to sit back.

The rise of the Republic of Indonesia in the international bond market has been spectacular over the past few years, with a series of high profile transactions that not only showcased the borrower’s attractiveness to investors, but also its willingness to innovate. The prospect of a ratings upgrade just around the corner should help continue momentum, but the economic picture is mixed, writes Rev Hui.

An $80m four year loan for Cambodian borrower Khmer Brewery has received a commitment from a Taiwanese bank. The deal, which has three banks at the helm, is targeting banks that have some presence in the southeast Asian nation.

In this round-up, Singapore's RMB business continues to grow, China RMB cross border trade settlement jumped 25% in June, Taiwan's RMB deposits inch up in June, the Stock Connect's northbound quota is replenished by the A-share sell-off in July, and Malaysia settled 1.9% of its trade with China in RMB in the first month of launching a clearing bank.