South Korea

Hyundai AutoEver Corp has kicked off investor education for an IPO that could raise up to W154.4bn ($137.2m), according to a source close to the deal.

South Korea’s Homeplus real estate investment trust (Reit) is planning to start bookbuilding for its $1.5bn IPO on February 28, after seeing a decent response from investors, according to a source.

Korea Development Bank has raised $1bn from a dual-tranche bond that came inside its secondary curve, as investors flocked to high quality, investment grade rated credits.

Asia’s sustainability market took a big step forward this week when Kookmin Bank priced a Basel III-compliant tier two bond with a sustainability label — the first of its kind in the region. Morgan Davis reports.

Abundant supply, a diverse crop of issuers and some rare long-tenor deals characterised Asia’s bond market ahead of the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, setting the stage for a positive February. Addison Gong reports.

‘Tier two’ and ‘sustainability’ are labels that have never previously been combined in Asia. At least not until this week, when Kookmin Bank raised $450m from a Basel III-compliant deal.

South Korean discount store chain Homeplus is set to launch a real estate investment trust IPO next month, according to a source close to the deal.

Korea Western Power (Kowepo) chose an appropriate week to launch the first ever green bond in Swiss francs from an emerging market issuer – and not just because sustainability was high on the agenda at Davos. The deal also came in a week in which representatives from the IFC and the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) met in Bern to discuss the results of a consultation on impact investing among more than 100 members of the Association of Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF).

South Korea’s KEB Hana Bank has locked up a dual-tranche sustainability bond at zero new issue premium, appealing to investors with its strong credit story and rarity value in the public dollar market.

Samsung BioLogics has caught a break after a South Korean court suspended the disciplinary action brought against the company by the country’s financial regulator for alleged accounting fraud.

South Korea’s Suhyup Bank returned to the international bond market on Tuesday after a near five year hiatus to raise $300m.

Korea National Oil Corp’s debut in the Japanese yen market on Wednesday was one to remember. The deal was the largest single-tranche Samurai bond on record in Asia, despite a rise in tensions between the two countries.