Morgan Stanley

Citi is poised to hire a European bank credit analyst from Morgan Stanley.

One of the longest running ECM sagas in recent times is set to come to an end after bankers close to WH Group’s HK$18.3bn ($2.36bn) IPO confirmed that bookbuilding is slated to launch on July 23. And unlike its previous attempt at a listing - when the pork producer was forced to abort due to overly ambitious pricing - the upcoming transaction is hoping to avoid those issues as the shares will come with a price tag that is more than 23% cheaper.

Tata Steel is kicking off investor meetings for what could be an inaugural dollar and euro denominated deal this week. In addition to being the latest in a string of Indian borrowers to explore the euro market this year, the company joins a club of high yield issuers from India that are surfacing in dollars.

Singaporean packaging company Goodpack is seeking a loan worth $835m to fund its leveraged buyout by private equity firm KKR, with a large chunk of the financing to go to the US market.

A tinge of risk-aversion crept into the US corporate bond market on Thursday, as investors digested the US government’s decision to broaden its sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine.

All of the big US investment banks have beaten grim expectations for their fixed income trading divisions, despite a collapse in volumes far more severe than that in the first quarter and volatility that is still on the floor, writes Owen Sanderson.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is making its second attempt at a loan market debut, launching a $1bn fundraising into senior syndication. The early signs are that the deal will win the hearts of loans bankers, but the company still has to clear some hurdles on its way to success, write Rashmi Kumar and Shruti Chaturvedi.

Internet giant Yahoo announced on July 15 that it will be selling 60m fewer shares in Alibaba’s IPO. The listing is expected to hit the market either at the end of the month or at the start of August.

Hong Kong-listed Citic Pacific has sold 623m more shares to two new investors as part of its Rmb225bn ($37bn) acquisition of its parent Citic Group.

Mobile phone company Xiaomi HK is back in the market for its second attempt at a syndication, this time for a jumbo financing of $1bn via two tranches.

E-commerce giant Alibaba revealed on July 11 that it now values itself at $130bn, up from $117bn in June, as yet more information is unveiled by the Chinese firm ahead of an upcoming listing.

China’s Rundong Automobile Group is gauging investor sentiment for a potential listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and if market conditions stay in its favour, books could open as early as next week.