Asia Pacific

A group of nine issuers from Asia sold green or sustainability dollar bonds this week, propelling volumes to new highs. A large part of the debt business in the region is still focused on green and the environment, but there is growing urgency to pay more attention to governance standards. Morgan Davis reports.

Guandong Haid Group Co and Shenzhen Yuto Packaging Technology Co are both making their debuts in the loan market.

Barclays returned to the Kangaroo bond market this week after being absent for two years to raise A$600m across three tranches of holding company debt. The market was split over which tranche offered the most value in pricing.

SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance Co priced a Rmb10bn ($1.56bn) auto loan ABS transaction this week, its third outing in China in 2021, switching to a simple structure comprising a senior and a subordinated tranche.

Asia-focused special purpose acquisition company Seven Islands has filed for a $300m Nasdaq listing.

Volkswagen Finance (China) Co came to the onshore auto ABS market for the first time in 2021 with a Rmb5.97bn ($929m) transaction this week, slashing the revolving period to three months to achieve a competitive pricing.

The rapid pace of new dollar bond issuance from Chinese property companies continued from Monday into Tuesday as four more borrowers joined the fray.

One of China’s big four banks, Agricultural Bank of China, and securities house Haitong International Securities Group joined the flurry of Chinese bond deals in the offshore market this week.

Philippine company Vista Land & Lifescapes bagged $170m from a tap of its 2027 notes this week.

SF Real Estate Investment Trust has raised HK$2.59bn ($333.4m) through a rare trust IPO in Hong Kong.

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International has sold its second dollar bond of 2021, raising $500m once again.

Chinese financial institutions are leading a revival in Asia’s loan market as they take advantage of a shift in market dynamics to tackle their refinancing needs. Borrowers from other industries are also likely to join the action before long — if only to get ahead of a possible US interest rate hike after a rise in inflation, writes Pan Yue.