UBS

Ice Group, a Norwegian provider of wireless telecommunications, has begun pre-marketing for an IPO on the main board of the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Hong Kong IPO hopefuls Babytree Group and Tongcheng-Elong Holdings announced deals drastically smaller than their initial targets this week. But despite the clear sign of trouble in the market, a few more Chinese companies are considering pushing ahead with their own listings before the end of the month. Jonathan Breen reports.

Bank of China returned to the bond market with a multi-tranche, multi-currency bond this week, making clear that its funding needs and its role as a flag-bearer of Chinese policy overseas are inextricably linked. Morgan Davis reports.

China’s Babytree Group has thrown open books for a potential HK$2.2bn ($280.9m) IPO, paring down the size from its original $800m target, according to a banker close to the deal.

In a further sign that the European leveraged loan market is approaching the end of the year on a hot note, trading software provider OpenLink is looking to reduce the spread on the leveraged buyout loans it sold in March.

Online travel service provider Tongcheng-Elong Holdings is set to launch a truncated Hong Kong IPO on Tuesday after key comparable Ctrip’s stock price collapsed amid volatility last week, according to a source close to the deal.

Chinese technology giant Baidu grabbed $1bn from a bond on Thursday, while a local government financing vehicle (LGFV) in Hunan raised $300m from a deal that was less than twice covered at its peak.

Clifford Capital has netted $300m from its third debt outing of the year. Despite the Singapore firm’s frequency in 2018, it still managed to attract investors due to its rarity factor.

Volkswagen printed the biggest trade in its history as high-grade corporate borrowers blitzed the dollar market in response to the results of the US mid-term elections.

On Tuesday, Logicor, the largest provider of logistics property in Europe, made its debut in the euro corporate bond market. The €1.8bn three tranche deal is believed to be the largest debut trade by a real estate company in euros.

Wendy Liu has joined UBS’s research arm as managing director and head of China strategy, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.

UBS tapped the Tokyo Pro-Bond market this week to raise ¥150bn ($1.33bn) of funding for its total loss absorbing capacity, at a time of little volume in the FIG euro market.