Northeast Asia

The majority of the banks in China, as well as foreign banks, can now trade bonds listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, according to new guidelines published on Wednesday. But the appeal of this option remains questionable.

Taiwanese LCD panel maker Innolux Corp raised $300m from a zero coupon convertible bond this week, riding a new wave of demand for the asset class in 2020.

Anta Sports Products made a stellar euro equity-linked debut this week, sealing a €1bn zero-coupon convertible bond at a negative yield. The deal had its share of challenges, but showed what is possible in a market that has seen a change in sentiment recently. Jonathan Breen reports.

The securitization market generates a mix of excitement and confusion, offering investors a novel way to boost their returns, diversify risks and — not very bold conjecture here — sometimes lose lots of money without quite understanding why.

China’s Bank of Communications came out with a $1.95bn-equivalent three-tranche deal on Thursday. It opted for a bigger dollar portion and a slimmer offshore renminbi (CNH) bond, compared with its last outing.

Three Chinese real estate companies raised $850m between them from the dollar debt market on Wednesday.

A pair of Asian SSA issuers joined a busy dollar market on Wednesday, bringing three and 10 year deals. Demand for three year dollar paper is high, with two more issuers set to join the fray on Thursday.

Taipei-listed Innolux Corp hit the market on Wednesday with a $300m convertible bond, its debut equity-linked deal.

The appeal of China’s Star market shows no sign of waning, with seven issuers already pricing their IPOs on the board this month and more companies joining the pipeline.

Guotai Junan International Holdings is planning a rights issue of new shares as it looks to raise up to HK$3.75bn ($482.3m).

The overwhelming supply of international bonds from Asia continued on Tuesday, as issuers dashed to raise dollars, and in one case, sterling. But not every borrower was able to cross the finish line.

The Hang Seng Indexes Co has published a consultation paper covering the inclusion of weighted voting rights (WVR) shares and secondary-listed companies in Hong Kong’s benchmark index.