Asia Pacific

361° International raised Rmb1.5bn ($243m) from a 2017 dim sum on September 4 with a debut offering that was well backed by investors thanks to the diversification opportunity the credit offered.

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch stuck to its rumoured pricing target of 3.5% for its debut offshore renminbi bond on Wednesday night, in spite of having appeared to rein in its ambitions by launching that morning with guidance of 3.7% area.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s biggest state-owned bank, is looking to make its debut on Taiwan’s Formosa bond market, DCM bankers have told GlobalRMB. Following in the footsteps of its Chinese peers in looking to sell a renminbi bond on the GreTai Securities Market (GSM), ICBC could be targeting around Rmb3bn (US$488.5m).

Books have closed for the debut offshore renminbi bond from Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch, with a banker close to the deal reporting that orders had reached about Rmb1.2bn ($195m) by 3pm Hong Kong time on Wednesday. The books closed at 4:45pm.

Dim sum hungry investors finally have a deal to satisfy their appetite thanks to Chinese brokerage firm Qilu International Holdings, which opened books to a three year bond on September 3.

Heptagon Capital, a UK-based asset manager, has partnered with China's Harvest Global Investments to open fundraising for the first daily traded and actively managed China A shares UCITS fund. Meanwhile Ashmore Group, another UK fund manager, has announced three SICAV funds covering Chinese debt and equities.

National Australia Bank attracted a high level of European demand for a dollar denominated deal on Tuesday. The unusually broad distribution pays testimony not only to the novel syndication approach, but also the tempting outright yield relative to what would have been seen in euros.

The debut offshore renminbi bond from Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch is expected to launch on Wednesday morning Dubai time after a conference call between the lead banks and the issuer, according to a banker close to the deal.

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Dubai Branch is set to launch its debut renminbi-denominated bond this week, two bankers close to the deal have told GlobalRMB. The deal will mark the first offshore RMB bond from the UAE operation of a Chinese bank and paves the way for Dubai to become the RMB hub for the Middle East region.

National Australian Bank has returned to the covered bond market for its second deal in less than a week, opening books for the third dollar benchmark of 2014 on Tuesday. In contrast to the previous two dollar benchmarks issued this year, NAB took a global approach to syndication, encouraging interest from Asian, European as well as US investors.

The Taipei branches of Bank of China (BoC) and China Construction Bank (CCB) wrapped up their debut Formosa bonds last week, with both entities selling Rmb2bn ($325m) in multi-tranche deals. BoC's attracted particular attention, bankers said, by virtue of its status as the official renminbi clearing bank for Taiwan.

361 Degrees International, a Chinese sportswear brand targeting second and third tier cities, is meeting investors for its debut offshore renminbi bond. Tsinlien Group, meanwhile, has mandated banks for its own CNH deal.