The summer hiatus is officially over for the Asian debt capital markets with a bevy of deals expected to hit screens in the comings weeks. This week China Development Bank, Taiwan's Cathay United Bank and Bank of India are scheduled to kick off roadshows for their respective deals on Thursday (September 22).
CDB will start roadshows with its eight strong arranger group of Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and UBS in Singapore and Hong Kong, before heading to London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, Boston and Los Angeles next week. Roadshows for the 10-year $500 million minimum deal are slated to wrap up on the September 28. Pricing is expected on Friday (September 30).
Bank of India has mandated Barclays, Deutsche Bank and HSBC for a five-year $250 million minimum bond offering. The leads will take the deal to investors with roadshows in Hong Kong on Thursday, Singapore on the Friday and London the following Monday. Pricing is slated to follow a few days thereafter.
Finally, Cathay United will launch its inaugural dollar denominated bond deal in Hong Kong on Thursday. Sole bookrunner JPMorgan will then take the deal to investors in Singapore on Friday before heading to London on Monday and New York on Tuesday.
The bank is seeking $500 million from a lower tier two deal with a 15-year non call 10-year structure. The deal will mark the second time this year a Taiwanese bank has accessed the international debt market.
Chinatrust led the way in March with a pioneering $500 million perpetual step-up ten deal, also led by JPMorgan. And like Chinatrust, Cathay will need to book proceeds through an offshore branch in order to circumvent Taiwan's witholding tax regulations.
Later this week the Republic of Korea's proposed $1 billion-equivalent sovereign bond is expected to be mandated. Bankers anticipate a dual currency issue, although the final maturity on each tranche has yet to be determined. The government is said to be waiting to get a clearer picture of market conditions before deciding on a specific terms. Launch is scheduled for late October.
Also expected to hit the markets in the next few weeks are Woori Bank and Penerbangan Malaysia. The former has hired ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas and UBS to sell $500 million five-year notes off its $5 billion MTN programme.
Roadshows are slated for next week in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and Boston.
Penerbangan Malaysia, the majority owner of flagship Malaysian Airlines, has also revived plans to enter the international bond markets for the first time, mandating Citigroup and CIMB for a $1 billion issue.
