Asia Pacific

As the Chinese offshore bond pipeline continues to build, it is inevitable that issuers will increasingly use anchor order support to get their deals past the finish line. But the reliability of this approach was thrown into question this week, writes Addison Gong.

WuXi AppTec’s Hong Kong IPO is set to be yet another test case of investor appetite for biotechnology names, as the company kicked off its chunky HK$7.5bn ($958m) flotation this week. With all eyes on the offering, its performance in both primary and secondary can have ramifications for other listing hopefuls in the city, writes Christie Ou.

Shandong Iron & Steel Group, Excellence Commercial Properties and Sunshine 100 China Holdings completed their offshore fundraising exercises on Wednesday after announcing their deals with final price guidance.

German carmaker and Panda regular Daimler issued a Rmb4bn ($576m) two tranche private placement this week, ending its Panda issuance for 2018. The issuer kept its focus on a shorter-dated tranche, which made up the bulk of the offer.

Baidu-backed video streaming platform iQiyi opened bookbuilding for a $500m convertible bond on Wednesday after US markets closed.

Shanghai-listed WuXi AppTec has started bookbuilding for its HK$7.5bn ($958.28m) Hong Kong IPO, which has already received good response from international long-only investors, according to a banker close to the deal.

BMW Automotive Finance returned to China's ABS market this week, raising Rmb4.5bn ($575m) from its second deal of the year. But the auto lender tweaked the structure this time, adding a revolving portion.

After testing the market with a single tranche Rmb1.94bn ($284m) note in August, carmaker Geely will launch a bigger deal with a more complex structure.

Thai hotel operator Minor International had to get creative with its debut $300m bond, owing to its lack of rating and inaugural status. It looked abroad for inspiration, ultimately opting for a South Korean-inspired structure. Morgan Davis reports.

Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co showed it is still possible for a Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV) to pay little new issue premium for a bond, but its move came at the expense of its order book dropping by a third.

Bank of China’s Singapore arm is marketing a loan for Ethoz Group, in what appears to be the first time the lender will lead an onshore syndicated financing in Singapore dollars.

China-based Mobvista plans to launch its Hong Kong IPO on Thursday, halving the target size to $200m-equivalent, according to a source close to the situation.