Asia Pacific

Axis sells full Syndicate Bank loan — Onfem boosts size to HK$6bn — Indorent closes $175m borrowing with 13 banks — VPBank wraps up $200m facility — Vingroup attracts 14 lenders

Chinese real estate issuers dominated the dollar bond market this week, with 16 developers pricing deals by Wednesday. Ample liquidity and a risk-on sentiment allowed most issuers to go long and cheap, but the mid-week volatility in the global market proved costly to some companies, writes Addison Gong.

Weigao Holding Co has sold a $150m bond exchangeable into the H-shares of Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Co, notching a number of firsts in the process.

Indian telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel made a splash in the equities market this week, bagging $2bn from a qualified institutional placement (QIP) and $1bn from a convertible bond, the first equity-linked issue in the country in more than two years. Both the deals received a big thumbs-up from investors, reports Jonathan Breen.

Asia’s debt and equity markets made a roaring start to 2020, with dollar bonds flooding the market and companies lining up for IPOs. But the first few days of the new year have also shown that issuers, capital markets bankers and investors should be prepared for some nasty surprises.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) published draft rules for the country’s leasing industry on Wednesday. The tighter supervision is likely to have limited impact on large leasing companies, but could drive out the smaller ones.

India’s National Thermal Power Corp has mandated three lenders for a $300m-equivalent Samurai loan, after sending out a request for proposals last year.

Phoenix Tree Holdings, a Chinese co-living platform, has started taking orders for its up to $175m IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Helen Wong, former chief executive of Greater China at HSBC, is joining OCBC Bank as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking.

Esaf Small Finance Bank has set the ball rolling for a Rp9.76bn ($135.6m) IPO, which will include fresh equity and a sale of existing stock.

Seven Chinese real estate issuers followed five of their peers to the offshore debt market on Tuesday, marking the busiest start to the year for the Asian bond market.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has returned to the dollar bond market for the first time since 2016 for $1bn, pushing out its maturity profile and pricing the deal at levels comparable to some of its much higher rated peers. Addison Gong reports.