Asia Pacific

Jiangsu Zhongnan Construction Group Co raised $250m from a new money and exchange offer on Monday.

Asian lenders have often balked at dividend recaps. They should reconsider.

The Republic of the Maldives priced a $200m sukuk on Monday, marking the country’s first dollar outing in three years.

Korea National Oil Corp’s (KNOC) quasi-sovereign credentials helped drive demand for its $700m bond on Monday, its first international debt transaction of the year.

FTSE Russell will start adding Chinese government bonds (CGBs) in its flagship FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI) later this year, a move that is expected to attract more foreign inflow into the world’s second largest bond market.

China-based Energy Monster, a mobile device charging company, has kicked off the roadshow for its Nasdaq listing. It is eyeing up to $218.7m from the deal.

Two red chip issuers, China Mengniu Dairy Co and Hengan International Group Co, sold renminbi-denominated Panda bonds in China’s interbank market at the end of last week. Both the firms opted for short tenors.

Hong Kong-listed Car Inc raised $250m from a bond last Friday, riding on the positive sentiment of an ongoing take-private deal and better access to funding.

Philippine company SPi Global, an outsourcing services provider, is understood to be seeking a $300m to $400m loan, some of which will go towards funding a dividend recapitalisation.

In this round-up, profits at industrial firms in China surge for the first two months of the year, onshore credit rating agencies face increased scrutiny, and local governments are required to manage debt risks at local state-owned enterprises in a better way.

Kaisa Group Holdings, a Chinese real estate developer, is planning to tap shareholders for a HK$2.73bn ($351.1m) rights issue.

The financial markets’ stance on climate change has taken a stride forward as 43 asset managers with $23tr of assets including some of the biggest such as BlackRock and Vanguard have joined the Net Zero Asset Managers’ Initiative. A critical mass of investors is now committed to reducing carbon emissions in their portfolios to zero, meaning that companies can be in no doubt which way they have to go if they want to maximise their potential investor base.