South Asia

A $120.6m borrowing to support an acquisition by Indian company Tata AutoComp Systems was signed this week, with 16 lenders joining the two mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

The launch of India’s first infrastructure investment trust is a week away but the excitement is already at fever pitch. IRB InvIT Fund aims to raise Rp46.5bn ($727.4m) from its IPO and will set the stage for a market that has huge growth potential, with its success already seeming all but certain, writes John Loh.

JP Morgan has given a fillip to its equities business in Australia and New Zealand, poaching three former Goldman Sachs bankers, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

School textbook publisher S Chand and Co’s Rp7.3bn ($112.8m) IPO, which was launched in India on Wednesday, had a book that was 1.8 times covered and growing as of Thursday evening.

Indian power company NTPC sold its second Masala bond on Tuesday, hitting the market a day after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) kicked off a roadshow for its debut. With more state-owned companies expected to jump on the Masala bandwagon, the government’s efforts at boosting the market appear to be paying off, writes Morgan Davis.

BPRL seeks SBLC-backed $400m — Singamas nets $270m with latest facility — Tower Bersama allocates among nine

India’s NTPC sealed a Rp20bn ($311m) five year Masala bond on Tuesday, as the country continues its struggle to develop the offshore rupee market.

Bharat PetroResources (BPRL), the overseas arm of Bharat Petroleum Corp, has approached lenders for a $300m loan with a $100m greenshoe, said two bankers.

S Chand and Co has started bookbuilding for its Rp7.3bn ($112.8m) float in India after anchor investors took up 30% of the deal at the top of the marketing range.

IRB InvIT Fund is set to launch India’s first infrastructure investment trust next week, testing the market’s appetite for yield assets with a Rp46.5bn ($727.4m) IPO.

India’s HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL) took centre stage on Monday, selling the only international bond from Asia ex-Japan. The 4x covered deal benefited from support from state-owned HPCL, with the bonds trading up by 50 cents in the secondary market.

The top lending group for a dual-tranche borrowing by Vedanta Group has shrunk after one bank dropped out of the syndicate to tie up its portion of the financing bilaterally.