Asia Pacific

Chinese banks have been winning loan mandates for corporate M&A and management buyouts originating from their home market. Now they turning their attention to financing more sponsor driven activity, as two mainland lenders have shown by joining a leveraged buyout loan for an acquisition by Carlyle Group. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

South Korea is in the midst of a serious political scandal that could threaten the president, but it seems to have had little impact on the IPOs of Clio Cosmetics Co and Doosan Bobcat.

Hydropower firm China Yangtze Power Co debuted in the equity-linked bond market this week, raising $521.9m with a dual currency exchangeable bond — a product rarely seen in Asia. The liquid nature of the underlying stock and the credit quality of the issuer helped reel in demand, writes Jonathan Breen.

Bank of China’s highly anticipated green covered bond launched Thursday, with books growing quickly in the first few hours.

Softer markets caught Central China Real Estate off guard this week, with the leads forced to increase pricing after launch to get its deal away. The deal highlights a shift in pricing for high yield property developers at a time when supply is set to increase, writes Addison Gong.

China’s Huishang Bank Corp rolled out its inaugural dollar-denominated additional tier one bond on Thursday, the first from a city commercial bank in the country.

National Bank of Canada became the first North American lender to sell a Panda bond on Wednesday, raising Rmb3.5bn ($517m) from a three year note. What stood out, however, was not the deal execution but how the lender managed to convince the regulators that the sale aligns with China’s Belt and Road initiative.

Chinese property issuers have stormed the international debt market recently, making a big comeback after months of relying on domestic bond fundraisings. But with the offshore market softening and the outlook around the sector cooling, high yield issuers should be prepared for a bumpy ride.

Banks and corporates in the US are increasingly interested in understanding the opportunities in renminbi, but they need to lose their addiction to the US dollar. The catalyst is likely to come from market trailblazers and improved infrastructure.

Bank of China's received on Wednesday a provisional rating for its green secured bonds and leads have set initial price thoughts.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has announced a self-led multi-tranche Australian dollar covered bond for launch later this week.

Guangdong Kanghua Healthcare Co priced its Hong Kong IPO at the bottom of expectations on Tuesday, as bankers blamed the poor aftermarket of recent listings for weighing on investor sentiment.