Standard Chartered

Asia’s debt market is heading into March at full speed with seven issuers opening new deals on Monday. Borrowers need to be quick on their feet and act promptly over the next month to get their bonds past the finish line, said bankers in the region.

Chinese leasing firm Far East Horizon was one of the first issuers to reopen the international bond market after a lull of more than a week, raising $300m from a dual-currency transaction on Thursday. But it was forced to pay up for the dollar portion due to lingering volatility in the market.

India's Tata Steel, which mandated a group of 21 lenders in January for a new loan, has shrunk the size of the fundraising following a blowout bond issuance.

Albaraka Turk broke new ground last week it has emerged, issuing the first ever Basel III-compliant additional tier one (AT1) from Turkey in a private placement. The deal has set a structuring template for future Turkish AT1 issuance, and has sparked interest among those looking to bring the next, possibly public benchmark, deal, writes Virginia Furness.

Kenya printed a $2bn dual tranche bond this week from a combined book of $14bn as investors continued to pile into emerging market credits they favour.

Chinese issuers are back following the Lunar New Year break. Far East Horizon and Redco Properties Group are both wooing bond investors, effectively reopening the dollar debt market in Asia.

Kenya looked to have adopted the same pricing strategy as its African peers on Wednesday, opening books on a dual tranche 2028 and 2048 bond with a chunky concession, much like Egypt and Nigeria last week.

Chinese financial services provider Far East Horizon is pursuing the sale of a dollar-denominated and offshore renminbi bond.

Albaraka Turk, the Turkish subsidiary of Bahrain’s Albaraka Banking Group, has issued the first ever additional tier one capital bond from Turkey, doing so in private placement format.

Three new issues from the CEEMEA market this week marked the end of the heyday of easy money for emerging market bonds, as EM bond fund outflows were on track to hit their highest level since those prompted by the election of US president Donald Trump in 2016. Francesca Young reports.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has released price guidance for its dual tranche bond that rival syndicate bankers and investors are calling “exceptionally” cheap.

Kenya has mandated banks for its first Eurobond since 2014, and is looking to extend its curve by 24 years to join the handful of sub-Saharan African borrowers that have tapped the 30 year part of the curve.