Banks

The People’s Republic of China has caused a stir among DCM bankers in Asia and Europe with plans to return to the euro bond market for the first time since 2004. While expectations on opposite sides of the world are starkly different, what is clear is that the sovereign’s deal will be less about the pricing itself and more about making a statement. Addison Gong and Burhan Khadbai report.

Agricultural Development Bank of China, one of three Chinese policy banks, bagged Rmb5.5bn ($781m) from a popular dual-tranche offshore renminbi bond on Wednesday, adding some life to the moribund dim sum market. Rebecca Feng reports.

UBS Securities has become the first foreign-owned joint venture to sponsor a listing on Shanghai’s Star Market, where underwriters have to invest in the listings they bring to market.

Several senior equity capital markets bankers have been let go as part of UBS’s reorganisation of its underperforming investment bank, including the global head of equity capital markets.

Gestamp, the Spanish automotive engineering company, has closed its Schuldschein with indications of a final size at about €180m. Market players believe that Spain and Italy may be the next key sources of growth in the years to come.

Elree Winnett Seelig will become the first head of environmental, social and governance in Citi’s markets and securities services (MSS) unit, working with another internal appointment, Olga Sviatochevski.

Zhenro Properties Group returned to the dollar bond market for the ninth time in 2019 on Wednesday. The real estate borrower raised $300m from what is likely to be its last deal of the year.

SinoMab BioScience, a biopharmaceutical firm, has started taking orders for its up to HK$1.7bn ($223m) Hong Kong IPO.

Credit Suisse’s head of loan syndication and distribution for Asia Pacific has left the bank, according to a source close to the situation.

Germany’s Daimler and the Netherlands’ KPN were out for euro bonds on Wednesday. High grade corporate bond players kept an eagle eye on the trades to see what shape the European Central Bank’s bond buying programme would take this time round.

The UK’s SP Transmission, the transmission arm of Scottish Power, has hired bank for a debut sterling bond, as issuers look to raise debt before a general election in December.

One of the more fascinating transactions to reach the Schuldschein market in the past few months is from the European arm of Singapore-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Cromwell. The transaction’s closing date was postponed by more than a month, as many away from the deal claimed the deal was struggling to find traction. But bankers close to the situation were quick to assure that it was still on track and investors just needed more time to analyse the credit.