Asia Pacific

JP Morgan has reorganised its team dedicated to advising clients on how to defend against campaigns by activist investors.

CP Pokphand Co, the Hong Kong-listed investment arm of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods, has closed a $400m loan for refinancing with 15 lenders.

China’s hands-on approach into investigating Luckin Coffee signals that the regulators are serious about cracking down on financial crimes by corporations. But the full extent of their commitment will only be revealed by how they tackle similar problems in the future.

A HK$18bn ($2.3bn) term loan sealed by China Overseas Land and Investment in 2017 is doing the rounds in the secondary market, offering asset-starved banks an opportunity to take exposure to the Hong Kong-listed company.

South Korean game developer Kakao Games is set to list in September for up to W384bn ($323m), reviving the deal two years after dropping its initial IPO plans.

A recent flurry of bonds from financial institutions did not dent appetite among investors for China International Capital Corp’s (CICC) $500m deal on Monday.

Powerlong Real Estate Holdings received huge support from investors for its $200m bond on Monday. The deal’s modest size and expectations of limited imminent supply from Chinese property credits helped the firm get away with a negative new issue premium of about 10bp.

Chinese property developer KWG Group Holdings returned to the bond market on Monday, taking $200m at a level that was inside of fair value estimates from analysts.

HSBC revealed a big increase in credit loss provisions in its second quarter results on Monday, as it vowed to step up the pace of its strategy shift. In the investment bank, it was a strong outing for fixed income and currencies trading, but a disappointing quarter for equities.

CEEMEA bond bankers are pinning their hopes on the EU's €750bn recovery fund to spark green issuance once again. The market has been moribund since Covid-19 drew issuers' attentions elsewhere, with a debut deal from Georgia Global Utilities (GGU) — a portfolio company of London-listed Georgia Capital — one of very few recent highlights.

Taiwan’s Cheng Loong Corp, a paper maker, has closed syndication of a $130m borrowing with nine banks.

China’s Tahoe Group has failed to repay a second domestic bond. The company has announced a potential share sale to China Vanke Co, but the deal will not be a bail-out ─ Vanke has made clear it will not take on the company’s debt.