Banks

China Forestry Group, a state-owned company that cultivates and manages forest reserves in the country, has closed its $145m loan with four banks.

Avenue Supermarts’ founder Radhakishan Damani and members of his family offloaded a portion of their shares in the company this week, raising more than Rp34.3bn ($478.1m). The deal came just days after the company issued a chunk of primary stock.

China Huarong Asset Management Co courted investors with a four-tranche deal this week, mixing fixed and floating rate tranches.

Renewable energy company Vena Energy stumped Asian investors with its debut bond sale on Wednesday, relying instead on heavy support from Europe.

India’s equity capital markets have had a strong start to the year, pumping out a steady flow of large IPOs and secondary share offerings on the back of a big uptick in foreign investment. The country’s ECM pipeline is offering banks relief amid a slowdown in Hong Kong. Jonathan Breen reports.

International bond volumes from India so far this year have almost doubled from the same period in 2019, showing the strength of the country’s issuers as they continue to emerge from a turbulent period. Debt bankers are optimistic that India is set for a strong 2020, writes Morgan Davis.

Tanzania’s Ministry of Finance has raised a $1.46bn loan — its largest foreign loan to date — to finance the construction of a railway from Dar es Salaam to the centre of the country. The loan is being provided by a number of development banks and credit agencies.

Alain Gallois will become Natixis’s global head of investment banking, replacing Mohamed Kallala. The latter is heading over to run global markets, with that role’s incumbent, Luc François, leaving the bank.

Chinese corporations bombarded investors with new bond options on Wednesday, allowing three issuers to raise $625m between then. Hong Kong-based asset manager ESR Cayman joined the fray in Singapore, grabbing S$225m ($161.55m).

The Council of Europe Development Bank has picked the banks to lead its first dollar benchmark of the year, in what will only be the second public deal in the currency this week.

London-listed tech firm Micro Focus is refinancing and extending its term loan 'B' and revolver, with a $1.435bn-equivalent deal across dollars and euros. The company has had a grim year — reflected in the targeted loan margins — with a series of revenue warnings, a sliding share price and subsequent exit from the FTSE100, a failed sale of part of the business, and the departure of its long-serving executive chairman.

A pair of SSA borrowers hit screens on Wednesday for green euro benchmarks. However, one has decided that its marketing process will be entirely conducted over the phone.