Asia Pacific

REC became the first Indian issuer in two months to hit the international bond market this week, raising $500m. The power company managed to navigate cumbersome restrictions for its deal, but other potential issuers from the country will find the path much more challenging, writes Morgan Davis.

Deutsche Bank has hired Kamran Khan to head its environmental, social and governance efforts in Asia Pacific.

Genscript Biotech Corp is planning to spin-off and list subsidiary Legend Biotech Corp in a potential $100m Nasdaq IPO. The firm submitted listing documents to the US regulator on Wednesday.

Woolworths reopened the Australian dollar corporate market with a A$1bn ($645m) dual tranche trade on Wednesday, the first from a corporate since the end of February.

The Republic of Finland had to share its return to dollar market on Wednesday with a trio of three year SSA deals. Demand for dollar SSA bonds has been strong this week, and with mandates out for five and seven year deals,issuers are still looking to take advantage

The European Investment Bank inaugurated its sustainability awareness bond (SAB) framework in Australian dollars on Tuesday, while on Wednesday NRW.Bank printed the largest SSA Kangaroo so far this year.

REC became the first Indian issuer in two months to hit the international bond market, raising $500m on Tuesday. While the deal was a success, it also shed some light on the restrictions and challenges being faced by the country’s issuers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zhongsheng Group Holdings has pulled off a HK$4.56bn ($588.3m) convertible bond and repurchase of an outstanding CB, increasing the deal size on the back of demand from existing bondholders.

GAC-Sofinco Auto Finance priced a Rmb4bn ($564m) four-tranche auto loan ABS offering on Tuesday. The senior class A1 and A2 tranches were both sealed at coupons below 2%, setting a new record for Chinese auto ABS issuers.

Hong Kong property company New World Development Co, which has taken hits to its business due to both the social unrest in the special administrative region and the Covid-19 outbreak, has raised $600m from the bond market with a 20bp new issue premium.

Dada Nexus, an operator of Chinese on-demand retail and delivery platforms, has set the ball rolling for a Nasdaq IPO.

JP Morgan has hired Jonas Troeber as its new head of equity syndicate for Australia and New Zealand, according to an internal memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.