Southeast Asia

Thai Beverage Public Co has enlisted the help of three banks for a 12-month bridge facility to support its acquisition of a stake in Vietnamese brewer Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco), said sources close to the trade.

International Finance Corp has joined forces with Goldman Sachs to extend a $110m syndicated loan to Vietnam’s An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank, a portion of which will be used to provide loans to women-owned enterprises in the country.

The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia announced new guidelines for sustainable and responsible investment funds on Tuesday.

Asia’s green financing market has made great strides since issuance started to pick up two years ago, with 2017 seeing more regulators and issuers giving the asset class a push. But for all its impressive feats, the region’s green market is yet to come of age.

Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) is understood to be lining up a $150m-$200m borrowing in the international syndicated loan market.

Fitch Ratings upgraded the Philippines to BBB with a stable outlook from BBB- on Monday, thanks to the country’s strong economic performance, a move that some economists said was a long time coming.

The Republic of Indonesia added yet another feather to its cap this week, selling its first SEC-registered bond on Monday. The sovereign has long been considered one of the most sophisticated debt issuers in Asia, and its new $4bn transaction shows how far it has come, writes Morgan Davis.

Vietnam is giving a fillip to transparency around IPOs of state-owned companies, passing a new law that will allow firms that are being privatised to conduct a public bookbuilding. While a step in the right direction, the effect of the law is still being debated, with many problems yet to be overcome, writes Jonathan Breen.

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) has brightened up Thailand’s offshore syndications market, tapping international liquidity for a $625m loan. With few other deals from the southeast Asian country whetting lenders’ appetite, banks are keen to take a piece of the fundraising. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Indonesian power producer Paiton Energy sweetened the dual-tranche bond and loan combo it sold in August by adding a $100m tap to the bonds this week, extending its debt maturity profile.

Short selling is crucial to the development of China’s equity market, especially in attracting greater foreign participation, Lyndon Chao, head of equities and post trade at the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (Asifma), told GlobalRMB.

Indonesian power producer Paiton Energy returned to the international debt market on Monday to add another $100m to its August bonds, in a bid to extend its debt maturity profile.