Asia Pacific

Dollar bond issuance in Asia appears to have got off to a strong start, with a rally both in the primary and secondary markets. But that is not enough for many DCM bankers in the region, who are hoping for a bigger upside.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) has launched a $700m multi-tranche loan into general syndication, raising some debate among bankers about the tight pricing on offer.

Indian and Indonesian dollar bonds were buoyed last week by positive investor sentiment that drove secondary market trading and paved the way for fresh debt issuance.

China’s Kepei Education has started bookbuilding for its HK$954m ($122m) IPO amid regulatory uncertainties around the sector in the Mainland, according to a source close to the deal.

In this round-up, the renminbi reached its strongest value against the dollar since July, December exports and imports volumes dropped, and trade volumes between China and Russia reached a record high.

South Korea’s third largest life insurer, Kyobo Life Insurance, has lined up three firms to lead its IPO, according to a source working on the deal.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has appointed two senior bankers as co-presidents of Asia Pacific, succeeding Matthew Koder who took on a new position last year.

ANZ became the first non-UK bank to issue a Sonia-linked covered bond on Friday. The competitive and sizeable funding could well spur follow-on issuance from another non-UK bank early next week.

A rally in the debt market and Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) scarcity value buoyed the company’s return to dollar bond investors for the first time since 2013, allowing it to add a chunky $900m to its coffers.

Shanghai Commercial Bank followed Hong Kong’s Dah Sing Bank into the bond market on Thursday with a $300m Basel III-compliant tier two deal.

IPO-hopefuls Metropolis Healthcare and Polycab India, a wire and cable manufacturer, are set to begin pre-marketing this month, according to a source close to the deals.

All eyes were on Sunac China Holdings on Thursday when it executed a deal that was six times covered at its peak. Despite the competition, Redco Properties Group also managed to walk away with a new bond, thanks to the flexibility of the 364-day format.