Asia Pacific

Chinese property developer Times China Holdings used support from reverse enquiry to seal a quick $200m bond on Monday morning that has raised questions about the unusual execution style.

Chinese software company Kingsoft Corp bagged HK$3.1bn ($399.9m) on Thursday from a five year convertible bond. It was the first equity-linked trade in Hong Kong since the coronavirus outbreak in January.

Credit Suisse has been hit hard by the alleged accounting scandal at Nasdaq-listed Luckin Coffee, which is understood to be behind one of the largest loans covered in the bank’s loan loss provisions for the first quarter of 2020.

In this round-up, Shanghai-based companies are being encouraged to take advantage of the city’s Star board, China has pledged another $30m to the World Health Organization and the State Council has urged banks to boost lending to micro and small enterprises.

PSA International, a Singaporean port operator, raised $650m from a 10 year bond that appealed to investors because of its strong credentials.

Kookmin Bank has become the first issuer from South Korea to sell an international public bond to combat the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. While virus-response deals are still just a tiny part of Asia’s debt market, bankers say it is set to grow.

In this round-up, international investors dumped Rmb208.4bn ($29.4bn) of Chinese stocks in March, and state-owned enterprises recorded a huge revenue drop in the first quarter of the year.

Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) has closed its maiden borrowing at a bigger size of $500m, after receiving strong response during syndication.

Shandong Qingyuan Group Co, a Chinese manufacturer and distributor of petrochemical products, is in talks with lenders to delay payment on a $1bn loan sealed last September as volatile oil prices take a toll on the company’s business.

Khazanah Nasional's sell-down in Malaysian electricity company, Tenaga Nasional, and Serba Dinamik Holdings' primary share placement both received a big thumbs-up from investors on Thursday, allowing them to boost the deal sizes.

Chinese retailer Wumei Technology Group has raised a loan of over €1bn to support its acquisition of German company Metro’s Mainland business.

Tianqi Lithium Corp’s rising debt burden since its acquisition of a stake in a Chilean mining company two years ago is causing trouble. The Chinese borrower is seeking covenant waivers and a tenor extension on part of a $3.5bn loan, raising concerns among bankers about the performance of other commodity credits amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Pan Yue reports.