South Korea

Social bonds in Asia have been rare, to say the least. But with Industrial Bank of Korea preparing for the region’s first dollar-denominated social bond issuance, the potential for the market is huge, writes Jasper Cox.

Industrial Bank of Korea mandated banks for a social bond issuance on Tuesday, viewing the product as a natural fit for the first transaction from its socially responsible bond framework. Meanwhile, ICBC Asia is looking to sell a new green deal.

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second largest carrier, fell victim to the rising interest rate environment, cancelling a senior perpetual bond sale on Thursday. While the notes had a relatively investor friendly structure for a perp, credit analysts did not see much value in the deal.

Strong investor demand for Export-Import Bank of Korea’s renminbi credit took the issuer back to the Formosa bond market on Thursday for a Rmb1.5bn ($234.8bn) outing. The transaction came just over three months after the policy bank sealed a public deal in the same market.

NH Investment & Securities added W245.6bn ($228.4m) to its coffers from an overnight sell-down in Hyundai Steel on Thursday, pricing the trade in the middle of the indicative range.

Morgan Stanley’s private equity arm has raised W210.5bn ($196.5m) from a block sale of Hyundai Rotem Co shares.

Hyundai Capital America took advantage of investors’ newfound love of floating rate notes on Monday, sealing a $1.3bn triple-tranche deal led by a three year floater.

Morgan Stanley’s private equity arm is selling shares in South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem for the third time this year, aiming to raise W220bn ($200m) with the latest deal.

Investors flocked to Korea Western Power Co’s (Kowepo) $300m bond issuance on Thursday, finding a safe haven in the government supported credit.

The Swiss franc bond market showed this week that it is well insulated from the turmoil affecting the euro market as South Korea’s Hyundai Capital raised Sfr300m from a tightly priced five year bond. With cross-currency basis swaps coming down, and low new issue premiums, Zurich-based bankers are keen to showcase the pricing competitiveness as well as the stability of their market.

Equity investors swooped on a W1.32tr ($1.22bn) sell-down in Samsung Electronics on Wednesday. They took advantage of a share price slide just ahead of the launch of what was South Korea's largest accelerated bookbuild since 2011. Jonathan Breen reports.

Hyundai Capital returned to the Swiss franc bond market after roughly four years away on Wednesday. The South Korean car company was a regular feature in Switzerland up until 2014, but as conditions grew worse for international borrowers each bond expired and was not refinanced like for like. But this is beginning to change as the Swiss market proves more resilient to European political volatility than core markets.