Northeast Asia

Asian IPOs are suffering as the spread of Covid-19 (the coronavirus) accelerates, with the flow of Chinese listings in Hong Kong having slowed to a standstill. Bankers are looking into any solutions, but the curb of face-to-face contact is hanging over the world’s busiest stock exchange. Jonathan Breen reports.

Agricultural Development Bank of China has sold Rmb14.5bn ($2.1bn) of bonds to combat the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, including a deal in the dim sum bond market this week. Rebecca Feng reports.

The coronavirus outbreak is already having an impact on my jet-setting retirement lifestyle. I suppose I shouldn’t complain ─ but I will.

Chinese regulators will have to strike a balance between supporting the use of the domestic bond market to help combat the deadly outbreak of the coronavirus, now officially known as Covid-19, and preventing the misuse of it.

New York-headquartered MSCI has included a Star board listed company in its China-related indices, alongside well-recognised names such as Luckin Coffee and Zai Lab.

Chinese borrowers continued to find strong response for their dollar bonds on Wednesday, despite the Covid-19 virus outbreak plaguing the country.

Online gaming and education firm NetDragon Websoft Holdings and biotechnology company Innovent Biologics both tapped the equity market on Wednesday evening for funds.

Agricultural Development Bank of China took Rmb1.5bn ($215m) from a tap of its outstanding dim sum bond on Tuesday. Thanks to little supply in the offshore renminbi bond market, the issuer pulled off a tightly priced deal, even finding support from price-sensitive hedge fund investors.

Far East Horizon, one of China's largest independent leasing companies, rolled out a five year bond on Tuesday worth $300m.

Yiwu State-owned Capital Operation Co raised $400m from a bond on Tuesday, showing that there is still interest in deals from Chinese local government financial vehicles (LGFVs) amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Swissport is looking to reprice its existing €850m term loan and add on another €50m, in a test of market appetite to tighten terms for companies with owners outside the top tier group of sponsors. The refi comes as reports suggest HNA Holdings, the Chinese conglomerate, is once again looking to sell the company after talks last year collapsed.

Right Lane, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Legend Holdings, has returned to the market for a $350m loan.