South-East Asia Loan House: Maybank

It was either sole or joint lead manager on the most Australian dollar bond trades (77) in 2022 to secure a table-topping 14.8% share of the A$125.2bn (US$85bn) market, according to Refinitiv data. “This year we saw the worst backdrop since the global financial crisis, with the war in Ukraine fuelling higher inflation, which has led to interest rate rises around the globe,” said Jimmy Choi, ANZ’s global head of DCM. Though annual issuance was little changed from 2021’s A$119.3bn total, two sectors performed very differently. “Financials have...

The Swiss bank topped the Australia/New Zealand equity and equity-linked league table for IFR’s review period. It raised A$4.7bn (US$3.2bn) for its clients through 10 transactions with a market share of 18.6%, 8.1 percentage points ahead of its closest competitor, according to Refinitiv data. Boutique firms have expanded aggressively in Australia in recent years. But in a year when issuers needed absolute assurance for their deals’ success, they picked UBS. UBS, acting as a joint lead manager, underwrote the four largest entitlement offers in...

The bank led half a dozen M&A and leveraged financings, including a A$1.82bn (US$1.36bn) loan completed in March backing the merger of HomeCo Daily Needs REIT and Aventus, for which it was the sole underwriter. The borrowing drew eight other lenders and was increased from A$1.62bn. ANZ also was sole bookrunner on a A$210.1m loan backing Pacific Equity Partners’ leveraged buyout of weight loss product owner Cranky Health. That followed a NZ$1.089bn borrowing ANZ closed in August that was a rare widely syndicated acquisition loan in the New...

Chinese G3 currency bond volume dropped to US$65.9bn in 2022, from US$153bn the previous year, as the property sector struggled, Covid restrictions held back growth, and companies found it cheaper to fund onshore. Bank of China still managed to find suitable issuers to take offshore, ranking fourth in the China G3 table with volume of US$2.6bn for a 4% market share, according to Refinitiv data. For Chinese bonds in all currencies, Bank of China recorded a deal volume of US$178.7bn for second place in the league table with a 5.8% market share....

Raising US$30.1bn through 148 transactions comfortably put Citic at the top of the China equity and equity-related league table, according to Refinitiv data. Despite the Covid-19 lockdowns that hindered China’s economic growth and concerns about the property sector, China’s equity market remained active thanks to ample domestic liquidity as well as measures to encourage the return of red chips and listings of innovative companies. With around 2,600 bankers in its investment banking division, Citic covered top clients in key industries and...

In late October, days after the Chinese Communist Party closed its 20th Congress, which laid out policy direction for the country for the next five years, the country’s southernmost province issued its first offshore bonds. The three tranche Rmb5bn (US$690m at the time) Reg S transaction comprised a Rmb1.2bn 2.42% two-year blue tranche, a Rmb2.6bn 2.65% three-year sustainability bond and a Rmb1.2bn 2.85% five-year sustainability portion, all of which were sold at par. Investors including overseas banks, asset management firms and funds bought...

China’s prolonged coronavirus lockdowns and property crisis threw up challenges for arrangers of loans, but Standard Chartered’s determined pursuit to bring debut borrowers and reintroduce credits from certain industries saw it spearhead lending activity. Despite the challenging market backdrop, the bank won 19 sole mandates on loans in China and Hong Kong during the year, more than any competitor. In India, where sole mandates are hard to come by on most borrowings, let alone event-driven financings, StanChart snared two acquisition loans on a...

The market was severely hit by factors like China’s sharp economic slowdown due to Covid lockdowns, rising interest rates and inflation worries, and volume fell to a decade low in 2022. IPOs, including secondary listings, in Hong Kong raised a combined US$12.7bn in 2022, down 70.5% from 2021, according to Refinitiv data. Despite the challenges, China Tourism achieved the largest Hong Kong listing in 2022. While Shanghai-listed China Tourism is a play on the normalisation of domestic travel, the deal came at a time when large parts of Hainan...

Trust was ranked first in the domestic league table for the year, with a market share of 16.3% for 160 issues and Rs688.7bn (US$8.45bn) of deal volume, and it took lead roles on a number of trades that needed careful structuring to attract investors. In June, it was the sole arranger for a Rs83.05bn social bond for Andhra Pradesh State Beverage Corp, which handles alcohol sales for the state government. The transaction was structured so that the southern state could use the levy on liquor to fund welfare schemes, reducing pressure on the...

The global technology sector meltdown, rising interest rates and fears of recession resulted in fewer and shorter launch windows, but Kotak was able to gauge appetite from both local and foreign investors to judge when to launch deals. In April to May, noticing there was high liquidity with local investors and selected foreign demand for certain sectors, Kotak advised state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India and e-logistics firm Delhivery to launch their respective Rs206bn (US$2.66bn) and Rs52bn IPOs. Both deals were challenging and came...

Thanks to the strong parentage – the borrower is the upstream unit of state-owned oil giant Pertamina – the borrowing overcame difficult market conditions to become the largest syndicated loan for an Indonesian corporate in 2022 and the first from the group since 2016. Syndicating a jumbo loan amid global recessionary concerns, geopolitical uncertainty and rising interest rates was not an easy task. Moreover, pricing was relatively thin with an amortising US$1.7bn five-year piece paying interest margins of 90bp (offshore) and 100bp (onshore)...

“We dominated in many sectors from financial institutions and corporates to issuers from the state of Sarawak, and we were strong in all asset classes, especially in sustainability where we have become a major leader,” said Andrew Lim, Maybank’s regional head for debt capital markets. “This year, we executed deals every month even amid key event risks, such as the widespread impact of US rate spikes and the Ukraine war which spurred uncertainties in the local market. Despite that, we were still able to help clients print deals and raise funds....