Citi

China Huarong Asset Management and China Railway Signal & Communication Corp (CRSC) are lining up to take the Hong Kong market by storm this year, with both companies looking to bring multi-billion dollar IPOs soon.

Export Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) staged a successful return to the international debt market on January 12, selling a SEC registered dual tranche deal that drew over $6bn of demand. Amid high levels of volatility since the start of the new year, bankers chose a good window for the Korean issuer, which achieved its goals for size and pricing.

Duration is for the second time this week the choice for a periphery eurozone sovereign, after Italy mandated banks for a 30 year benchmark on Wednesday. But there was more woe for Greece at the very short end, as yields on its 13 week bills rose by 25bp at auction.

Belarus's request for proposals this week for a $1bn bond issue has once again highlighted the ethical dilemmas investment banks face when working in and for countries with tarnished human rights records.

US real estate investment trust WP Carey issued a €500m eight year bond on Wednesday, continuing the 2014 trend of non-European companies selling bonds in the currency.

State-owned coal supplier China Shenhua Energy successfully issued its maiden offshore bond market on January 13, fetching $1.5bn across three tranches. The size of the offering was relatively large for a debut issuer although weak commodities prices meant the company had to fork out a new issue concession.

China Huarong Asset Management, which signed up eight pre-IPO investors in August last year for a stake worth around $2.4bn, is slowly moving forward with its Hong Kong listing plans. The IPO, expected to raise at least $2bn but which could go up to as much as $3bn, is set to receive a lot of attention from investors as peer China Cinda Asset Management has performed well since its own listing.

China Railway Signal & Communication Corp (CRSC), which helps to develop and control the country's railways industry, is seeking a Hong Kong IPO worth $1.5bn-$2bn in the middle of this year, with confidence already high that the response from the market will be more than positive.

French chemical company Arkema has completed the long term financing of its acquisition of Bostik, with a €700m 10 year senior bond on Tuesday.

SSA bankers lauded Portugal on the timing and execution of a dual tranche benchmark deal on Tuesday, as investors ploughed into the offering. Elsewhere, Spain revealed its syndication plans for 2015 and Italy broke records at the long end of the curve.

The first major block deal out of Asia ex-Japan this year failed to get off the ground after South Korea’s Hyundai Glovis pulled a $1.25bn share sale due to insufficient demand from investors, despite the trade offering a hefty discount.

State-owned coal supplier China Shenhua Energy is making its first foray into the international debt market in style by opening books to an ambitious triple tranche offering on January 13.