South Asia

Tata Steel has received a new commitment at the senior level for its $1.5bn refinancing, with banks yet to join in general syndication.

State Bank of India is back in the loan market for a fresh $500m fundraising that is expected to launch into syndication in the next couple of weeks.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) is on track for a comeback to the dollar hybrid bond market, while India’s National Thermal Power Corp kicked off bookbuilding for a 10 year Reg S offering on Monday.

In a boost for share sales in Indian state-owned firms, the country’s securities regulator has refined the rules for offer for sale (OFS), reducing the risks that have plagued such sell-downs in the past. Market participants lauded the move, but with stock prices still shaky, deal volumes are unlikely to rise quickly, writes John Loh.

Baring Private Equity Asia has lined up five banks to syndicate a $456m loan that backs its bid for Singapore-based Interplex Holdings.

Deutsche Bank and Australia and New Zealand Bank have lost senior members of their teams in Asia.

Loans for ONGC Videsh and Saka Energi Indonesia have had commitments from banks, with the former likely to close at the end of this week.

A $465m 21 month refinancing for Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) has gone into general syndication after the borrower mandated banks for the loan in December 2015.

HCL Technologies is preparing to launch a $1bn float in the US, which would make it the first Indian company to list there in more than two years.

Société Générale has named Sayan Das its head of financial institutions group in India, a newly created role at the bank.

Standard & Poor’s has warned that Indian stated-backed banks could soon be facing a slew of downgrades as the amount of capital needed to provide for bad loans is likely to shoot up.

India is finally set to welcome its first publicly listed infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), with GMR Infrastructure and IRB Infrastructure Developers having officially asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India for approval to create and list their respective vehicles. But while the first deals are certainly welcome, much more needs to be done for the asset class to have a strong foundation.