UBS

Australian casino tycoon James Packer sold his stake in Melco Crown Entertainment, his Asian joint venture with Hong Kong magnate Stanley Ho, in a $669.9m overnight bookbuild on Thursday.

China Vanke Co bagged $600m on Thursday from its first international bond in more than three years, sneaking into the market the day after the Federal Reserve announced a rate hike.

Another piece of next year’s equity capital markets issuance puzzle was turned over today, when Lonza, the Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical company, announced a Sfr3.3bn rights issue to pay for the acquisition of Capsugel from KKR.

Swiss pharmaceutical and biotech ingredients supplier Lonza has secured $5.5bn in funds from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS for the acquisition of US dosage form maker Capsugel, in a financing package that includes a variety of debt and equity products.

An extensive marketing effort helped debut issuer LR Capital Group seal a $150m deal on Tuesday, as books opened with sufficient anchor orders.

UBS is set to lose its co-head of ECM solutions for Asia at the end of the year, sources told GlobalCapital Asia this week. His departure comes two months after the bank said Hong Kong's regulator was investigating it for its role in IPOs, though the two events are thought to be unrelated.

Local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Xuzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone State Asset Management Co and property developer China Vanke Co announced their respective dollar-denominated bonds on Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to lift interest rates.

LR Capital Group made its international bond debut on Tuesday with a $150m deal. The transaction was announced with sufficient anchor orders, thanks to an extensive marketing effort by the leads.

Pfandbriefbank Schweizerischer Hypothekarinstitute tapped two Swiss covered bonds on Tuesday, in what was likely the final trades of the year. The shorter 10 year Pfandbrief tenor offered a 0.29% yield, an early Christmas present to investors forced far along the curve throughout the year.

Shandong Ruyi Technology Group and LR Capital Group are marketing their respective dollar transactions, ahead of a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting Wednesday.

Chinese selfie app maker Meitu wrapped up its IPO at the bottom of guidance last week, raising HK$4.9bn ($631.5m) in fresh funds.

UniCredit turned to the equity-linked bond market on Thursday to dispose of its last 7.4% stake in Bank Pekao, after agreeing to sell 32.8% of the Polish lender to insurance company Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń and the Polish Development Fund, for Z10.6bn (€2.4bn).