Strong markets trigger sell-downs outside Hong Kong

While deal activity in the Hong Kong market took a breather yesterday following a more than 200-point drop in the Hang Seng Index for a second straight day, investors elsewhere in Asia stepped forward to take advantage of higher share prices. 

In Indonesia, the controlling shareholder of Indika Energy raised Rp1.913 trillion ($212 million) from the sale of a 10% stake in the company and, in Malaysia, government investment company Khazanah Nasional sold a 6% stake in Malaysia Airports as it continued its effort to reduce the state-ownership of listed companies. The latter sale totalled M$396 million ($128 million).

A third sell-down of size took place in South Korea where Korea Development Bank raised W288.12 billion ($258 million) through the sale of a 10% stake in shipping company STX Pan Ocean. However, according to sources, this deal took the form almost of an agency deal and was completed partly through the sales trading desks at the bookrunning banks.