South Korea

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank made a strong impression on bank capital investors this week, pricing a 10 year bullet tier two. Some of the credit for the transaction’s success goes to the fundamental strength of the issuer and the investor-friendly structure of the bond, but market participants say Shinhan’s willingness to pay up also deserves kudos.

Deutsche Bank has hired Jason Cox as a co-head of equity capital markets for Asia Pacific, as the bank lays out the management structure for the region.

A host of South Korean borrowers are queuing up to sell bonds, with rare corporate names adding diversification to the usual parade of banks and state-owned enterprises. The country’s issuers have always been adept at tapping the widest investor base, but with US interest waning they might be better off staying closer to home.

Hyundai Motor Co has sold half of its stake in South Korean state-owned Korea Aerospace Industries, raising W342bn ($291m) after pricing the block near the bottom of guidance.

Shinhan Bank is looking to tie up its first tier two bond in the international market, launching an up to $500m offering on Thursday.

Hyundai Motor Company has kicked off the sale of approximately 4.9m shares in Korea Aerospace Industries, which could net it W348.5bn ($292m).

South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp is finally looking to make a comeback to the dollar bond market after an absence of five years and has mandated banks to prepare a proposed 144A outing.

Doosan Bobcat, part of South Korean chaebol Doosan Group, has roped in six banks to lead its IPO.

Korea Gas Corp (KoGas) is looking to sell its first international bond of the year in the second quarter, as part of plans to raise $1.5bn-$1.9bn in 2016 to refinance debt and fund overseas projects.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has lost a member of its equity capital markets syndicate team in Hong Kong and a DCM banker in South Korea, sources said this week.

The Asia ex-Japan bank capital market sprang back to life this week as United Overseas Bank (UOB) completed the first-dollar denominated trade in the region this year. The deal's strong reception bodes well for those looking to follow but market participants have predicted another lacklustre year in term of volumes, writes Rev Hui.

Woori Bank has hired six banks to work on a dollar-denominated additional tier one (AT1) offering.