Singapore

Temasek Holdings made a splash in the block market this week, raising W1.07tr ($1bn) with a pair of overnight trades in South Korean pharmaceutical company Celltrion and its distribution arm Celltrion Healthcare — an approach that was in line with the Singapore sovereign wealth fund’s strategy to rebalance its portfolio. Jonathan Breen reports.

Chinese outlet mall trust Sasseur Reit has kicked off a fixed price bookbuilding for its S$396m ($301.3m) Singapore IPO, placing nearly half the deal with cornerstone investors.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp issued a five year sterling floating rate bond on Wednesday but was unable to match the size or spread of United Overseas Bank, which recently issued the first Singaporean covered bond in sterling.

Société Générale has promoted Raj Malhotra to the position of head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, according to a press release on Wednesday.

Derivatives exchanges around the world reported strong February volumes this week, potentially painting a rosy picture for the year ahead as markets seem set to return to higher volatility.

Bank of Ireland is planning to bring the first covered bond from Ireland in over two years, while Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation is lining up a debut trade in sterling.

Bangladesh's independent power producer Summit Power launched pre-marketing this week for a ground-breaking Singapore IPO. It will be only the second international listing by a Bangladeshi company.

Singaporean issuers in the dollar market are rare enough for investors, but those with a guarantee from the triple-A rated government are ever more unusual. Clifford Capital made the most of that rarity value this week, raising $300m from a government-guaranteed deal.

Luye Medical, the healthcare services arm of Luye Life Sciences Group, has enlisted three banks to lead its IPO of about $500m in Singapore.

Bangladeshi independent power producer (IPP) Summit Power has launched investor education ahead of its ground-breaking Singapore IPO, according to a banker close to the deal.

Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) had adequate demand to print a €500m five year covered bond on Thursday, and though it was unable to reach the upper end of its size ambitions, it was able to issue the tightest Singaporean covered bond in euros.

MUFG Securities Asia has named Royal Bank of Scotland veteran Pierre Ferland as its new chief executive.