Southeast Asia

Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional has pocketed MR571.2m ($133.3m) after selling a small piece of CIMB Group. A competitive bidding process for the mandate meant wall-crossing investors beforehand was impossible, leading to a slow but steady bookbuild.

Panda bonds are finally coming back to life after a dire first half. But although all the conditions are in place for an issuance boom, there is reason to doubt quite how high volumes will go.

Healthcare company Parkway Pantai opened books for its inaugural dollar bond on Thursday morning local time, collecting bids for a perpetual non call five year.

Terms are out for a $1.5bn three part loan for commodities trader Trafigura, which invited banks for a roadshow earlier this week.

DBS Group Holdings sold Singapore’s inaugural international green bond on Tuesday in style. The strength of its credit, coupled with the green label and a conducive market backdrop, helped the bank print inside the curves of its global peers.

Commodities trader Trafigura has sent banks a preliminary invitation for an upcoming financing, which market participants reckon will replace a $1.185bn one year loan sealed last October.

Indonesian consumer finance lender BFI Finance is seeking up to $150m from a three year syndicated loan, and is shaving the margin on the facility by 67bp.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) is bringing back the lunchtime trading break following a rejig of its equities market structure.

Something quite extraordinary has just been happening in Singapore. For the first time in several years, investors in the city-state have been able to punt on a local, multi-billion-dollar IPO, writes Philippe Espinasse in the latest Clawback.

Socially conscious investing in Asia has so far concentrated on green bonds and little else. But SRI financing is not just limited to green bonds. By taking a broader approach, Asian borrowers — including sovereigns — can reap serious benefits.

Asian green bonds are front and centre this week. Greenko Energy Holdings took the lead with its dollar bond on Monday, with Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings and Hong Kong’s Castle Peak Power Company rolling out their transactions on Tuesday.

A relatively stable credit backdrop has encouraged a swathe of Asian issuers to tap the bond market this week, ensuring a blistering pace of issuance.