To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email leonie.welss@lseg.com and shahid.hamid@lseg.com
In a year when market conditions swung wildly, one bank combined flawless execution with a focus on market development, featuring on more of the region’s landmark deals than any of its competitors. For the first time since 2007, Citigroup is IFR Asia’s Bond House of the Year.
Alibaba Group’s US$8bn blockbuster debut in the bond markets rewrote the playbook for Asia’s top issuers. As well as smashing the record as the region’s biggest international bonds, the move put the Chinese e-commerce giant on a par with its better-known US peers, challenging the long-held consensus that companies from Asia’s private sector need to offer premium pricing to access the global markets. Just two months after completing the largest initial public offering in history, Alibaba announced its intention to sell Reg S/144A senior...
CAR Inc’s US$500m high-yield debut is the type of offering that is crucial to driving Asia’s bond markets forward. It is the first issue from a sector that is new to the region, but can attract a global following, and a fast-growing credit interesting enough to engage investors in a challenging price-discovery process. CAR did more than just tick the right boxes for a slick high-yield offering. It set a new standard for the Asian high-yield sector. The company’s offering was the first from the Chinese car rental sector, an industry that is...
As attention shifted from the international renminbi to onshore opportunities, one bank parlayed its Dim Sum dominance into pole position in the Panda bond market. For leading the key developments across Asia’s local currency markets, HSBC is IFR’s Domestic Bond House of the Year.
Apple’s Kangaroo debut smashed a plethora of domestic records and was the clear choice as Asian currency bond of the year. August’s A$2.25bn (US$1.6bn) offering put the Australian dollar market firmly on the map as an alternative funding currency for the world’s top corporate issuers, proving that the Kangaroo market can compete on size, as well as price. Apple’s debut, as well as being Australia’s biggest corporate bond, was the first corporate Kangaroo to go out to seven years and the first to include multiple tenors. The deal dwarfed all...
Slowing economic growth dampened activity in the Asian loan markets, but one bank distinguished itself with a focus on event-driven financings and successful distribution. For its bold calls and targeted strategy, Deutsche Bank is IFR Asia’s Loan House of the Year.
When Malaysia Airports Holdings began negotiations in October 2014 to refinance existing debt at its Turkish unit, it was clear that there would be plenty of challenges ahead, but a novel approach to the loan resulted in a smooth takeoff six months later – complete with a rare reverse flex to reduce pricing for the borrower. MAHB’s discussions centred around debt at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, where the Malaysian borrower was set to trigger change-of-control clauses with a move to buy the 40% stake it did not already own....
In a rollercoaster year for Asian equities, one bank used its outstanding market read to raise funds for clients big and small in short windows of opportunity. For its unparalleled execution in difficult markets, Morgan Stanley is IFR Asia’s Equity House and China Equity House of the Year.
Hang Seng Bank’s sale of a Rmb12.73bn (US$2bn) stake in Industrial Bank broke new ground in China’s equity capital markets, offering a fresh template for major A-share disposals and introducing international standards to the mainland’s still developing stock market. The block trade offered an alternative way for foreign investors to monetise their A-share investments, and proved that innovation remained possible even in a restricted, and often unpredictable, capital market. Hang Seng, of which HSBC owns 62%, was looking to trim its stake in...
Six years after regulators introduced the format, China’s first exchangeable bond opened a new avenue for capital raising and added another tool for the country’s reform of its sprawling state-owned enterprises. Baosteel’s Rmb4bn (US$650m) EB, exchangeable into shares of China’s third-largest insurance company New China Life, was an innovative way for SOEs to monetise their non-core assets. The structure took on further significance after China banned most share sales to stem the summer stock-market rout, becoming the only way for major...
China’s domestic market has been a hotbed in recent years for market development in structured finance, but it was an offshore issue that broke new ground this year when BOC Aviation printed the first asset-backed securities for an Asia-based aircraft-leasing company. BOC Aviation, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Bank of China, sold a portfolio of 24 aircraft to Shenton Aircraft Investment I (SAIL), which issued ABS of US$808m backed against the assets. The aircraft in the initial asset pool have been leased to 21 airlines in 18 countries....
The Government of Malaysia’s sovereign sukuk set a milestone in the Islamic finance market in a complicated economic and political climate. The US$1.5bn dual-tranche 144A/Reg S issue comprised a US$1bn 10-year tranche and the world’s first 30-year sovereign sukuk. The tenor is a milestone that will help create a long-dated benchmark Islamic curve for other similar issuers in the future. The sukuk used wakala principles and was the first sovereign issue to be structured using sharia-compliant commodities, leasable assets, and non-physical income...
The first overseas corporate bond from landlocked Laos was always going to be a voyage into uncharted waters. For EDL-Generation, however, the gamble paid off, with a Bt6.5bn (US$181.3m) three-tranche bond, which established a benchmark curve for the country’s corporate sector. In December 2014, EDL-Gen became the first corporate issuer from Laos to raise funds in the baht debt market. Prior to the EDL-Gen foray, Thai investors were only familiar with the sovereign, as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic had three outstanding bonds totalling...