Northeast Asia

South Korea’s Daegu Bank pulled off a bold $300m bond on Wednesday, choosing to price a deal with a generous new issue premium rather than delay the sale any further.

A-Living Services raised HK$4.1bn ($524.4m) from its IPO this week. It priced the deal below the midpoint of guidance, but it was well-received across all tranches.

A group of employees from Vincom Retail have raised Dong 4.51tr ($197.5m) after they sold a block of the company’s shares, upsizing the offer on the back of strong institutional demand.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has committed to allowing trading of popular equity index options in its after-hours trading session, after similar futures contracts enjoyed success in a lengthier session.

Sunshine 100 China Holdings became the first Asian issuer to turn to the international bond market this week, tapping a three non-call two year bond as other issuers shied away from the market following a global collapse in stock prices.

State-owned insurer China Taiping Insurance Holdings is raising a HK$500m loan from the offshore market, according to sources.

Three Asian debt issuers launched dollar bonds on Wednesday, taking advantage of a respite from the market turmoil that all but shut the debt market earlier this week.

JinkoSolar Holding Co set out plans to raise $100m on Wednesday, after opening the order book for a follow-on offering of American Depository Shares alongside a private placement of the shares, according to a deal term sheet.

China Merchants Port Holdings sealed its first Panda deal on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday, raising Rmb500m ($79.5m) from a three year bond. The red chip issuer will take the proceeds offshore to finance its Belt and Road Initiative-linked purchase of the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka.

Panda bond issuance has so far been dominated by overseas-incorporated Chinese names. That bolsters volumes, but it does little to help the market fulfil its role of boosting RMB internationalisation. Policymakers have the chance to fix it — but only if they are bold enough to let markets play a bigger role.

Mainland firms Light Year Holdings and Pacific Millennium Packaging Group are seeking approval to float in Hong Kong. They both filed draft IPO prospectuses with the city’s bourse on Monday.

Asian bond issuance has ground to a halt this week, with new deals put on hold and bankers urging caution amid volatility across the equity and bond markets.