Northeast Asia

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank braved the dollar market on Wednesday for the second time this year, hoping to secure a new Basel III tier two dollar bond while North Korea-related volatility looked quiet.

Chinese retailer Red Star Macalline Group Corp launched its dollar debut on Thursday, about five months after mandating banks for the deal.

South Korean private equity firm JKL Partners has raised W170.3bn ($150.3m) after offloading a chunk of shares in Pan Ocean Co, with an early non-deal roadshow putting the deal on a solid footing.

Postal Savings Bank of China Co has mandated 21 banks to work on a dollar AT1 transaction worth up to Rmb50bn ($7.4bn), expected to hit the market as early as next week.

South Korean asset manager Poseidon 2014 has launched an up to W174.1bn ($154.3m) block sale of shares in shipping services provider Pan Ocean Co.

Korea Development Bank made a strong statement to the market with a $1bn triple-tranche deal on Tuesday, despite some investors being wary about North Korea and others balking at the price.

Ample demand allowed Bank of Qingdao to price its inaugural additional tier one dollar bond tightly on Tuesday. The deal stood out because of the bigger participation from non-Chinese investors — something that bodes well for the hefty AT1 pipeline.

ABC International Holdings tackled its looming maturities head on with a $500m three year bond on Tuesday, finding favour among investors thanks to fair pricing and its rarity value.

Sino-Ocean Group Holdings leveraged on its stronger sales performance and credit metrics to storm into the debt market on Tuesday, showing that it has put a short but tumultuous period behind it.

Haitong UniTrust, the leasing arm of Haitong Securities, is eyeing an end-September window to launch its $500m IPO in Hong Kong.

Investors have been receptive to ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance Co’s $1.5bn IPO in Hong Kong despite the punchy valuations on tow, said bankers.

Hong Kong-listed Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services has set its sights on the offshore syndicated loan market for a $300m dual-currency maiden borrowing.