Equity Capital Markets
The Asian equity markets have raised $1.1 billion so far this week. The largest deal of the week is a $436 million follow-on for Renhe Commercial Holdings through sole bookrunner Haitong Securities.
Notably, the biggest IPO to price at the start of the year is a $296 million IPO for Spring Airlines through sole bookrunner UBS in what stands as the biggest airlines IPO since Bangkok Airways’ raised $447 million through bookrunners Citi, Credit Suisse, DBS and Bangkok Bank in October 2014.
Asia ex-Japan ECM volume in 2014 totaled $236.4 billion via 1,734 deals, the highest annual total since 2010 ($311.6 billion) and up 42% on 2013 ($166.0 billion). 4Q 2014 volume stood at $64.4 billion and was up 20% on the same 2013 period ($53.7 billion).
Morgan Stanley led the 2014 equity capital league table bookrunner ranking with $17.0 billion while Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan rounded up the top three with $15.5 billion and $12.6 billion, respectively.
Debt Capital Markets
Four issuers have already tapped the Asian G3 debt capital markets for $9.4 billion so far this week, compared with the record $11.7 billion raised in the same 2013 period.
The bulk of the issuance has been driven by sovereign issuers who have tapped the market for a combined total of $6.0 billion through two deals, the highest YTD level on record and up from the $5.0 billion raised in the same 2013 period.
The largest deal of the week is a $4.0 billion dual tranche trade for the Republic of Indonesia through bookrunners Standard Chartered, HSBC and Citi.
Another notable transaction to come to the market this week is a $3.2 billion Reg S bond for Huarong Finance II Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd through a consortium of 16 bookrunners. The deal features a keepwell agreement and is the largest senior USD-denominated Reg S deal in Asia (ex Japan) on record.
G3 bond issuance in the region totaled a record $214.7 billion in 2014, the first time on record that volume exceeded the $200 billion barrier and up 45% year-on-year. Chinese issuers accounted for almost half the volume with a record $106.9 billion in 2014 and up 82% year-on-year. South Korea and India also saw record volumes reached in 2014 with $28.6 billion and $17.7 billion, respectively.
USD-denominated bonds continued to drive the majority of the issuance with $198.8 billion in 2014, the highest annual level on record and up 46% year-on-year while euro-denominated issuance also surged 43% during the same period to reach a record $12.7 billion in 2014. In contrast, Yen-denominated bond volume fell 5% to $3.1 billion from $3.3 billion in 2013.
HSBC topped the debt capital markets league table ranking with $24.8 billion, followed by Citi and Deutsche Bank with $21.6 billion and $16.2 billion, respectively.
