Search results for

All roads seem to lead to China these days. This is certainly so in the IPO market in Asia. Hardly a week passes without news of yet another big Chinese institution seeking to list overseas. Insurance companies, energy conglomerates and the big state banks are all ripe for the corporate finance pitch. And little wonder. Just look at the US$1 billion profit BP made when it recently unloaded its 2% holding in PetroChina. That is a hefty 225% return from a three-and-a-half year investment. Not bad by any measure.

Creditors of LG Card, South Korea’s biggest credit card provider, have finally reached an agreement on a US$4.2 billion rescue package whereby 16 creditors will inject an additional W1.65 trillion into the company and swap W2 trillion of LG debt for equity. Lenders also agreed to roll over the company’s maturing debt for one year.

Wine is produced in more regions of the world than ever before and the New World wine industry is booming. But, whether you intend to invest in fine vintages, or merely add to your collection, do your homework first, advises Philippe Bru, managing director of Mille Chateaux HK Ltd.

Merrill Lynch put its balance sheet to work in mid January, when the US investment bank bought a block of 114 million News Corp preference shares from General Motors.

The adventurous and these days seemingly ubiquitous Macquarie Bank added another notch to its deal-making holster in early January when the roughly US$139 million Macquarie Central Office Corporate Restructuring Reit (MCO CR Reit) listed on the Korean Stock Exchange. By Mark B. Johnson.

By John-Patrick Moorhead of Goldman Sachs JBWere

The transfer list

National Australia Bank in Asia: “Growth through Excellent Relationships”

By Pauline Loong

Asia's private banking clientele is turning to the region's nascent and booming hedge fund industry to ramp up returns. Picking the right fund manager is critical as the number of funds mushrooms and the talent pool shrinks. By Keri Geiger.

Increasing liquidity in the region made 2003 a tough year for international banks in search of new project finance business. Dominic Jones looks back at a year, which proved to be bad news for offshore finance – but a boon for local lenders and sponsors of developments.