Asia Pacific

Tricor Holdings is planning a return to the loan market to refinance a HK$2.8bn ($360m) borrowing it sealed in 2016 for a leveraged buyout by investment firm Permira.

Asia’s leveraged buyout loan market is facing a setback after a planned financing to back the acquisition of Mphasis, an Indian IT services firm, was scrapped as discussions between the buyer and seller fell through.

China Hongqiao Group and Guangdong Lingyi iTech Manufacturing Co are seeking loans worth a total of $350m.

Asia’s debt market was hit with volatility this week, putting pressure on secondary trading, denting primary bond supply and forcing investment grade borrower Indian Railway Finance Corp to pull its dollar transaction. Is there any respite on the way? Morgan Davis finds out.

Chinese car manufacturer BAIC Motor Corp sold a popular $350m bond on Wednesday. While the issuer offered a premium to investors in the primary market, the notes ended up trading tighter in secondary.

Woori Card Co, a South Korean financial services firm, targeted investors in Taiwan on Wednesday for a $200m social bond.

HSBC has agreed to tighten its policies on climate transition and coal funding, in response to a shareholder motion calling on it to phase out fossil fuel financing. The move underlines the power investors have to accelerate change on environmental and social issues using shareholder votes, and could raise the bar for other banks.

While European banks have been ducking the covered bond market in favour of central bank liquidity, issuance from the asset class’s newer markets has also been light, but for different reasons. Attention is now on South Korea and Japan, which are seen as the most promising sources of new issuance, according to a senior S&P ratings official.

US-listed Autohome, an online car marketplace, has wrapped up its HK$5.34bn ($687.8m) secondary offering in Hong Kong, pricing the deal even as its US stock dived amid a market rout.

Singapore's Temasek Holdings and its wholly owned Azalea Asset Management sold the fourth iteration of the Astrea collateralised fund obligation (CFO) this week. They raised more than $450m from the institutional portion of the deal, using a tried-and-tested structure.

Shaoxing Shangyu State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Co priced a $500m international bond on Tuesday, in a trade that ended up resembling a club deal after investors dropped out due to aggressive price tightening.

Chinese internet company Baidu has filed updated offer documents for its Hong Kong secondary listing, the final step before it launches its potential multi-billion-dollar deal.