Asia Pacific

The revival of equity-linked bond issuance in Europe was crowned on Thursday by the launch of one of the biggest deals this year, for ANA Holdings, which owns All Nippon Airways. Nomura was the bookrunner.

With a GDP per capita of just $796, and foreign exchange reserves that cover just 9% of debt obligations, the Republic of Tajikistan cannot claim to be a frontier market, let alone an emerging market country. But that should be no obstacle as the Central Asian state approaches a bond market that has seen Belarus and Iraq raise debt with ease in recent months.

Japan Finance Organization for Municipalities breezed through a short dated dollar trade on Thursday, picking up a more than doubly subscribed book at what bankers away from the trade put at a low single digits concession.

GlobalCapital is happy to announce the nominations for its Sustainable and Responsible Capital Markets Awards 2017.

The idea of a Primary Equity Connect (PEC) linking China and Hong Kong has reared its head again after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) published a report trumping its benefits. Needless to say, the market is divided. While many see benefits, others see dangers in bringing the two markets closer together. Jonathan Breen reports.

BDO Unibank set a new record on Wednesday with a $700m bond, the largest dollar deal ever from a bank in the Philippines and a rare transaction from the island nation this year. Although few expect a rush of Philippine credits in the dollar market as a result, there is some hope next year will set a new pace. Morgan Davis reports.

Banks are making efforts to boost their sponsor coverage in Asia, responding to the growing prominence of private equity funds in the region and a shift in business ownership to a younger generation that is more open to selling stakes. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) is expected to launch three new bonds on Friday that have been born out of a restructuring of $3.34bn of the bank’s debt.

TOA Paint will start sounding out investors for its up to $400m IPO in Thailand next week, said a banker on the deal.

Best, a logistics firm backed by Alibaba, started pre-marketing its $1bn IPO on the New York Stock Exchange this week, as a clutch of Chinese issuers also filed listing applications in the US.

Sisram Medical launched a HK$1.4bn ($174.2m) IPO in Hong Kong this week and hedge funds have already shown their support for the deal.

HSBC India IB head leaves — StanChart brings Goldman banker out of retirement — CS hires Apac fixed income head — MUFG staffs up in India — SocGen creates FIC role