Morgan Stanley

The victory of Emmanuel Macron in France’s presidential election has helped unleash a wave of equity block trades this week, even though the real boost to investor sentiment came after the first round of the election on April 23.

Kotak Mahindra Bank closed a bumper equity raise on Friday that fetched Rp58bn ($902m), in what bankers hailed as another flagship Indian qualified institutional placement.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of Asia Pacific M&A Stephen Gore is leaving the firm, according to sources.

China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings has raised HK$888.3m ($114.6m) overnight from a top-up placement, pricing the shares off the bottom of the marketed range.

One of Asia’s most frequent borrowers BOC Aviation has mandated six firms for a dollar-denominated Reg S outing, with roadshow set to take place early next week.

Volatility late in the week failed to dampen a scorching few days of public sector dollar issuance, auguring well for more expected supply in the currency next week. Four issuers — some of which came this week to avoid other trades pencilled in for next week — were able to price deals at tight levels, with some coming through their curves.

Shares in Koninklijke VolkerWessels, the Dutch construction and engineering company, had risen 3.8% by lunchtime when they began trading in Amsterdam on Friday, after the company's €575m IPO had been priced at €23 a share.

Australian billionaire James Packer unwound the last of his position in a Macau joint venture with Hong Kong scion Lawrence Ho this week. Packer raked in $1.2bn from an unusually structured deal that included a $337m block trade, capturing the attention of Asian and US investors. Jonathan Breen reports.

It was a slam dunk for India’s first infrastructure investment trust, which raised Rp46.5bn ($727.4m) after IRB InvIT Fund priced its IPO comfortably at the top of expectations.

WuXi BioLogics, which is planning a $200m-$300m IPO in Hong Kong, is set to begin investor education next week if the stock exchange grants it approval at a listing hearing on May 15, said a banker close to the deal.

Bright Scholar Education Holdings had covered its $150m US IPO as of Monday, according to bankers arranging the deal.

Public sector issuers “can do whatever they want” in a rampant dollar market, with investors ploughing into books despite deals pricing close to or flat to their curves.