Asia Pacific

Deutsche Bank has appointed two bankers as co-heads of global markets for Asia Pacific, following Michael Ormaechea’s decision to retire.

UBS is losing its Asia head of corporate client solutions, who is understood to have resigned on Thursday, according to sources.

Ezaki Glico, a Japanese confectioner, sold a ¥30.9bn ($267m) Euroyen convertible through Nomura on Thursday, breaking a long dry spell in the market.

Equity-linked issuance in Europe burst into life on Thursday with the sale of a €500m bond for Prysmian Cables & Systems and the first Japanese CB of any size since September. Then on Thursday evening Immofinanz launched another deal. The clutch of deals suggests the market is wide open for issuers.

Auckland Council on Thursday pulled off a 7bp tightening for its first ever public deal in euros. The trade was joined in the market by paper from the City of Hamburg and Bpifrance Financement.

M&A in Asia has started on a strong note this year, with the first big financing — for McDonald’s China’s $2.08bn acquisition by Citic and Carlyle — under way. While details of the syndicated loan are limited at this stage, the transaction has already gathered plenty of attention from bankers, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

The first two weeks of January have not brought the surge of new issuance that many expected, but the response to bonds so far shows that investors have grown surer of themselves compared to the end of 2016. Market watchers are now hopeful that Chinese New Year will mark the real start for deals, with February expected to bring roaring trade. Morgan Davis and Addison Gong report.

Details on pricing have emerged on CT Corp company Trans Retail Indonesia’s $575m five year loan, which is expected to be pre-funded by seven lenders shortly.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone continued the Indian issuer trend this week, grabbing $500m from international investors as Chinese borrowers wait until after the New Year holiday to hit the market.

Market participants in Pakistan are bullish about the prospects for the local bourse after a Chinese-led consortium won the bid to buy a 40% stake. Bankers and brokers expect the new owner to take the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) to the next level and inject not only capital, but also credibility. John Loh reports.

China’s Wisdom Education International Holdings hit the road on Thursday, opening books for its Hong Kong IPO that could raise up to HK$1.1bn ($147.0m).

In these dark days for banking, everyone is constantly looking out for a silver lining.