Greater China

A fundraising for a unit of China National Chemical Corp is set to increase to €630m ($683.6m) from the launch size of €600m, after more than 10 banks piled into the syndicate.

China Nuclear Engineering Group Corporation (CNEC) is hoping to launch what will probably be the last dim sum bond of the year. However, the borrower is struggling to get the debut off the ground, as it is pushing to issue at a level that is much lower than market rates, several sources close to the deal have told GlobalRMB.

China Energy Engineering Corp’s HK$14bn ($1.81bn) Hong Kong IPO, which priced at the bottom of the range on Thursday, was comfortably covered even though retail investors failed to take up all the shares they were entitled to.

Tsinghua Unigroup had the Asia bond market to itself on December 3 when it made its dollar debut ahead of the European Central Bank’s stimulus package announcement. The lack of competition, combined with Tsinghua’s credit strength, resulted in a popular $800m trade that was close to four times subscribed.

Asia’s debt capital market is set to end the year on a bumper note, with China Construction Bank (CCB) poised to launch a dollar-denominated additional tier one trade next week.

A bank meeting for lenders interested in a $130m leveraged buyout loan for LVMH’s Asian investment arm has been postponed, according to sources.

In this round-up, Hong Kong sees sharp drop in RMB trade settlement in October, PBoC appoints Swiss RMB clearing bank, ICBC Singapore completes first CNH bond repo, CSRC looking at London Stock Connect feasibility, Macau set to introduce RMB clearing system, StanChart joins OTC Clear in Hong Kong. Plus, a recap of our top stories this week.

The Asian investment arm of French luxury firm LVMH is in the market for a $130m leveraged buyout loan. This is one of the region's few deals to test appetite for credits where the underlying target is in the fashion industry. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Asia’s debt capital markets show no sign of slowing down as the year end approaches, with recent deals proving that investors still have plenty of cash to deploy. Market participants expect at least one more high-profile deal to close in what is poised to be a record December, writes Rev Hui.

BoC Aviation has increased its latest borrowing to $500m after banks from across Asia poured into the transaction.

Philippine property developer DM Wenceslao and Associates, which was expected to open books for its IPO of around Ps10.73bn ($227m) this week, has pulled the plug on the transaction until next year.

As I sit here nursing the pot belly I built up through marathon drinking sessions to impress clients over the years, I can’t help but feel some Schadenfreude about the hoops bankers have to jump through these days to win business.