Asia Pacific

Electric vehicle manufacturer Li Auto sealed a scorching $1.1bn Nasdaq IPO this week, pricing above the marketed range to make it the largest US listing by a Chinese company in nearly two years. The deal proved there is still interest among mainland firms to list in the US, despite rising hostilities between the two countries, writes Jonathan Breen.

Two Indian companies have struggled to find demand in syndication for deals that were priced before Covid-19 shut down the country. But bankers are optimistic about the fate of India’s offshore loans market — as long as borrowers accept a rise in funding costs. Pan Yue reports.

A flexible approach to its $750m bond paid off for India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, which navigated weak market sentiment and demanding investors by changing its tenor, size and price expectations. Morgan Davis reports.

China Development Bank has raised Rmb10bn ($1.43bn) from a domestic green bond that won international certification. The policy bank made the rare move to sell the deal in different primary markets simultaneously, a further step in the closer union between China’s two big onshore debt markets. Addison Gong and Rebecca Feng report.

Mindspace Business Parks Real Estate Investment Trust wrapped up its Rp45bn ($601.3m) this week, treating India to its second listing in the asset class.

State Grid Corp of China, the world’s largest utility company, raised the equivalent of around $3.3bn from a four-tranche dollar and euro deal on Wednesday.

Chinese property companies Sunac China Holdings and Ronshine China Holdings came to the dollar market on Wednesday, both with four non-call two year bonds. But a smaller deal size helped Ronshine get away with a tight price.

Anta Sports Products and Shangri-La Asia are readying their debut Panda bond outings, according to regulatory filings seen by GlobalCapital China.

Now is not the ideal time to be a port operator. International Container Terminal Services has faced a tough year, as the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil take a toll on global trade. But the Philippine company, which develops and operates container ports and terminals, moved quickly in response to the crisis in early 2020, boosting its liquidity and freezing its capital expenditure. ICTSI followed with two successful dollar bond sales in June and July.

American expats have long looked at their low-tax paying peers with envy. While Englishmen, Frenchmen and others in Hong Kong have enjoyed a 17% maximum tax rate, those born in the US are also forced to pay taxes in their country of birth, even if they’ve been absent for decades.

SPDB loses investment banking head — MUFG names PF, ESG head for Oceania — Loans veteran Ooi moves to Sydney

MUFG Bank has appointed Rob Ward as head of project finance and head of ESG finance for Oceania, the firm said on Thursday.