South Korea

SK Battery America, a subsidiary of South Korea's SK Innovation Co, found outstanding response for its green dollar bond on Tuesday. The firm was able to tighten pricing by 45bp, with the notes trading even tighter in the secondary market.

Korea’s KEB Hana Bank attracted a €2bn order book for its €500m debut covered bond on Tuesday, boosting hopes for an improvement in the secondary market performance of similar deals from South Korea that offer outsized spread pickups.

SK Hynix was overwhelmed with investor demand for its triple-tranche dollar deal on Wednesday. It raised $2.5bn, but non-stop demand drove the bonds nearly 20bp tighter in the secondary market on Thursday.

Korea Development Bank returned to the bond market on Monday with a three-tranche transaction, marketing one of the notes with a green label. Despite pricing its trade at one of the tightest levels seen among the country’s lenders, the borrower still received strong demand.

KEB Hana Bank (KHB) of South Korea has set up a covered bond programme and, given the strength of market conditions, there are high hopes that a deal will be mandated soon.

A group of shareholders in Doosan Fuel Cell, a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate Doosan Group, raised W274.35bn ($253m) from a clean-up trade in the company’s stock on Tuesday night.

Foreign central bank action sparked arbitrage opportunities in Swiss francs to shrink in 2020, so investors took a more domestic approach. As foreign issuance dries up, so too do Swissie mandates for international desks. Frank Jackman reports.

ESR Kendall Square real estate investment trust is set to debut on South Korea’s main board this month, having wrapped up the final stage of a W357bn ($329m) IPO.

South Korea-based ESR Kendall Square is set to launch a W357.3bn ($320.3m) IPO for its real estate investment trust (Reit).

South Korea’s Kookmin Bank used a Covid-19 sustainability bond label for its $500m bank capital deal on Wednesday.

Korea Land & Housing Corp has broken a six-year absence from the dollar debt market to raise $300m from a social bond.

Krafton, a popular South Korean video game developer, has mandated banks for its 2021 IPO.