Asia Pacific

Magnum Opus Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac), has raised $200m from a New York Stock Exchange IPO.

In this round-up, China’s State Council assigns tasks to different regulatory bodies to implement the government’s goals for this year, the central bank confirms its policy stance of ‘no sharp turns’, and Haitong Securities is punished for allegedly failing to control risks.

Power Construction Corp of China priced its $500m bond 20bp inside of fair value this week, taking advantage of the rarity value of perpetual notes from the country’s state-owned companies.

Shriram Transport Finance Co caught an opportune time to print a $225m tap of a bond on Thursday, with the response to its deal reflecting investor preference for strong Indian credits.

Casino operator MGM China Holdings added more liquidity to its balance sheet this week with a $750m bond outing.

Chinese question-and-answer platform Zhihu has raised $522.5m from its US IPO, after pricing the deal at the bottom of the marketed range, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Chinese firm Linklogis has thrown open the book for its Hong Kong IPO, aiming to pocket up to HK$8.28bn ($1.06bn).

The Covid pandemic has delayed a lot of progress in the capital markets, but bankers say the industry is still on track to meet Libor transition deadlines. Investors have consented to the Bank of Nova Scotia transitioning the basis of its sterling covered bond from Libor to Sonia, while Westpac is seeking consent.

The US securities regulator has introduced rules that would delist foreign companies from local stock exchanges if they do not comply with US auditing standards. Shares in Chinese companies dual listed in Hong Kong and the US dived following the move.

Indian companies have churned out listings rapidly, giving the country’s IPO market its busiest start to the year in more than a decade. The volume has so far been driven by small deals, but large transactions are now looming. Jonathan Breen reports.

The New Development Bank sold a Rmb5bn ($767m) Panda bond aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals this week. The deal, expected to help mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the Chinese economy, was priced flat to China Development Bank’s yield curve, and saw solid demand from international investors. Addison Gong reports.

Tricor Holdings, owned by investment firm Permira, has brought a rare dividend recapitalisation deal to Asia’s loan market. Pan Yue reports.