Asia Pacific

Singapore-based Fullerton Healthcare sealed an inaugural dollar-denominated perpetual from a company in the healthcare sector in Asia, bagging a larger-than-expected $175m from its first dollar outing on Thursday.

Chinese iron and steel making conglomerate Hesteel Group Co has snapped up $500m on the back of a price rally in the steel sector onshore, with bankers praising the company’s efforts to woo accounts during a roadshow.

Senior loans banker Sean Joseph left ANZ Bank on Friday, according to a source close to the matter.

China New Higher Education Group is set to launch the roadshow for its $150m Hong Kong IPO on April 3, according to a source close to the deal.

Renminbi’s share of international payments rises slightly in February, Liaoning free trade zone (FTZ) allows foreign investors to build renminbi pool, and the Chinese president Xi Jinping to meet with his US counterpart for the first time. Plus a recap of this week’s coverage.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) could soon be home to the A-shares of foreign companies. A decade old initiative to bring firms based in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) into the A-share market has resurfaced and the first foreign stock could be up for grabs on the SSE within a year, writes Jonathan Breen.

Westpac NZ issued a chunky €1bn euro covered bond on Thursday, with leads adopting a cautious approach to pricing at first, tightening the deal by 5bp in syndication to reach a record spread for a New Zealand issuer in euros.

The first quarter loan syndication numbers for Asia ex-Japan are out and they are not pretty, with volumes plummeting 50% year-on-year. But with some big M&A deals in the works, bankers are bullish about the second quarter and expectations are rising for more activity from China and India.

Asia ex-Japan G3 DCM volume reached a new high in the first quarter, with high yield names staging a resurgence. Chinese borrowers dominated the market, but given their deal timing is being tightly regulated, high yield credits from the rest of Asia are jumping into action, buoying sentiment for the next quarter. Addison Gong reports.

Astra Sedaya Finance (ASF) is targeting Taiwanese bank liquidity for its latest syndicated loan, a $90m amortiser helmed by three banks.

Tightening bank budgets may mean cutting back on business trips, but sometimes making those trips is the only way to get the full picture.

ICBC Financial Leasing Co brought home $2bn from its latest dual tranche deal on Wednesday, hitting its regulatory cap and meeting its pricing goals.