Asia Pacific

Chinese electric car company Nio made a splash in the US convertible bond market this week, raising $650m from its debut issuance and using a call spread feature to engineer a tasty premium. Jonathan Breen reports.

Macau casino operator Studio City Finance has priced a $600m deal to fund a tender offer, winning plaudits for its precise pricing. But while the company could return to the bond market again this year, overall supply from the sector is expected to be subdued.

Power Grid Corporation of India has broken a seven-year absence from the international loan market to target Japanese liquidity for a ¥22bn ($201m) Samurai deal.

In a bid to attract more investors to infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (Reits), India’s market regulator has proposed slashing the lot size for trading these assets.

China’s securities regulator has published draft regulations for the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s new technology board, giving the market a first look at how the much-anticipated listing venue will function.

Most bond investors are making minimal effort to lobby companies to improve their performance on climate change, a new report has found. Some feel they haven’t the right to make demands; some leave it to equity colleagues; some do not see it as relevant.

Suning Appliance Group has added $235m to its coffers with a bond tap, capturing one of the last windows for issuance ahead of the shut-down of Asia’s bond markets for the Chinese New Year holiday.

Are Asian investors ready to embrace duration again? Oil India and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) proved there is clear demand, rolling out a pair of 10 year bonds on Tuesday. SCB also added a five year tranche.

Indonesian power company Lestari Banten Energi priced a $775m project bond on Tuesday, sealing the first such Asian deal of the year after months of preparation.

Macau casino operator Studio City Finance raised $600m from a deal that was priced right around fair value, funding a tender offer. There could be more bonds from the company in 2019.

Larsen and Toubro has kicked off a two-day offer-for-sale in subsidiary L&T Technology Services, eyeing proceeds of up to Rp9bn ($126.3m).

S&P Global Ratings, which this week became the first international rating agency permitted to rate Chinese domestic deals, plans to start its business gradually. The firm will initially concentrate on renminbi deals sold by its existing clients.