Asia Pacific

The Republic of the Philippines made a triumphant return to the Panda bond market this week, raising Rmb2.5bn ($363m) from a deal that was tighter and larger than its debut last year. Rebecca Feng reports.

The latest chapter in the US-China trade war resulted in some serious market turmoil this month. But Hong Kong seems to have avoided the worst of the volatility: the city’s stock exchange approved four applications and each issuer has hit the road. Will investors bite? Gina Lee and Jonathan Breen report.

Bond exchanges and tender offers are rising in popularity among Asian issuers, as funding officials race to beat a mountain of maturities next year. Addison Gong reports.

Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management, manager of Frasers Centrepoint Trust, is planning a sale of up to S$436.8m ($308m) in new trust units.

Chinese private education provider JH Educational Technology has set the ball rolling for its Hong Kong IPO, filing a prospectus with the city’s stock exchange, while brewing giant AB InBev has kicked off pre-marketing for a multi-billion-dollar float of its Asian assets.

Chinese construction materials provider Pujiang International Group has begun bookbuilding for its HK$852m ($109m) IPO.

Two southeast Asian companies, Prasac Microfinance Institution and Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), are preparing new offshore borrowings.

Union Bank of the Philippines has returned to the offshore loan market, having been absent for more than 20 years.

Citi has appointed Marc Luet to be country officer for Australia and head of the bank's Australia and New Zealand cluster.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has made a quick offshore loan comeback, aiming to raise $300m.

Chinese issuers kept up their bond issuances on Wednesday, despite having to contend with the backdrop of the US-China trade war. Three borrowers raised a combined $840m, proving that investors are still buying a range of credits.

The Export-Import Bank of Thailand played to investors’ need for diversity on Wednesday, marketing a $300m-capped transaction at a very tight rate.