South Korea

Samsung Biologics has sent out a request for proposals for an up to W3tr ($2.6bn) listing in South Korea, according to a source close to the situation.

Samsung Biologics Co will send out a request for proposals next week for its 2016 IPO, expected to fetch over W3tr ($2.6bn), a source close to the situation told GlobalCapital Asia.

Global construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat is looking to file for approval for its South Korea IPO by July and could list two months later, a source with knowledge of the situation told GlobalCapital Asia.

South Korea’s Kakao Corp has broken a drought in Asia’s equity-linked market by printing a W230bn ($199.9m) exchangeable bond on Monday, with the deal denominated in won but settled in dollars.

South Korea’s regulators are widely expected to adopt new rules that force banks to sell perpetual additional tier one bonds, something that was prohibited until now. The move will push lenders to execute more expensive offshore capital raising and while the shift will improve the soundness of Korea’s banking system, it will take the market time to adjust to the new regime.

In this round-up, South Korea RMB deposits picked up, while Macau and Taiwan saw a slight contraction, BRICS NDB approved its first loans, Chinese and Russian regulators are expanding their co-operation agreements, and Euronext started providing market data directly to onshore investors in China. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB's top stories this week.

South Korea has been one of the most active Asian equity capital markets in 2016 with high expectations that IPO volumes this year will be its largest on record. The figures are reassuring, but the KRX appears hell bent on wooing southeast Asian issuers to its stock exchange. Focusing on its strengths instead would be far more fruitful.

Natixis and Korea's KB Insurance (KBI) have signed a pact to co-invest in infrastructure and aviation debt that will be originated by the French lender.

Kia Motors Corp had a stellar response to its first dollar outing in almost five years, selling a dual-tranche bond on the back of what bankers say was one of the biggest order books achieved by a South Korean issuer. The combination of the strength of Kia's credit and its rarity value proved to be a winning recipe.

Appetite for Korea Resources Corp’s offshore outing on Monday was strong despite Moody’s recent decision to review its rating for a downgrade. Not only was the issuer able to increase the bond’s size to $500m but it also found a high quality order book.

Citi has created a new position of head of corporate banking for Asia Pacific, naming Gerry Keefe in the role.

South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp has started taking orders for a 144A/Reg S deal, which is split between a five year and a 10 year tranche.