China

HNA Group affiliate Avolon Holdings has wrapped up a $8.5bn debt financing for the acquisition of the aircraft leasing business of CIT Group, with five lenders joining the trade.

A mix of local politics and broader market developments may gradually strip Hong Kong of its role as the cutting edge centre for renminbi internationalisation. But that is probably a good development, at least as far as China’s longer-term strategy is concerned.

ECM bankers in Hong Kong are playing the blame game after a string of recent IPOs disappointed in secondary, fuelling angst among hedge funds and fears that this could hurt the year-end pipeline.

Bank of East Asia (China) has appointed Cartier Lam Chi-man as executive director and chief executive, succeeding Kwan Tat-cheong who will become senior adviser to BEA China.

Invitations are out for a $300m three year borrowing for China ZhengTong Auto Services, a luxury auto dealership. Morgan Stanley is leading the deal, which can be increased in size based on the response.

Chinese banks have been winning loan mandates for corporate M&A and management buyouts originating from their home market. Now they turning their attention to financing more sponsor driven activity, as two mainland lenders have shown by joining a leveraged buyout loan for an acquisition by Carlyle Group. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Hydropower firm China Yangtze Power Co debuted in the equity-linked bond market this week, raising $521.9m with a dual currency exchangeable bond — a product rarely seen in Asia. The liquid nature of the underlying stock and the credit quality of the issuer helped reel in demand, writes Jonathan Breen.

Bank of China’s highly anticipated green covered bond launched Thursday, with books growing quickly in the first few hours.

Softer markets caught Central China Real Estate off guard this week, with the leads forced to increase pricing after launch to get its deal away. The deal highlights a shift in pricing for high yield property developers at a time when supply is set to increase, writes Addison Gong.

China’s Huishang Bank Corp rolled out its inaugural dollar-denominated additional tier one bond on Thursday, the first from a city commercial bank in the country.

National Bank of Canada became the first North American lender to sell a Panda bond on Wednesday, raising Rmb3.5bn ($517m) from a three year note. What stood out, however, was not the deal execution but how the lender managed to convince the regulators that the sale aligns with China’s Belt and Road initiative.

Chinese property issuers have stormed the international debt market recently, making a big comeback after months of relying on domestic bond fundraisings. But with the offshore market softening and the outlook around the sector cooling, high yield issuers should be prepared for a bumpy ride.