Asean

The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended all trading on Tuesday, after the country’s president announced stricter coronavirus quarantine measures for Luzon, the northern island home to the capital Manila.

Malaysia’s Press Metal Aluminium has raised a $300m dual-tranche financing to support its acquisition of Bintan Alumina Indonesia (BAI).

Banks have submitted their proposals to Malaysian telecommunications company Axiata Group, which is seeking $800m from the loan market for refinancing.

Singapore hard disk drive company MMI International is looking to amend and extend an old loan ahead of a looming maturity, as it faces pressure on its financials.

CPN Retail Growth Leasehold Reit dived 20% in Friday morning trading after the Thai company deferred an equity fundraising exercise due to volatility in the market.

Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group’s $10.6bn purchase of Tesco’s Asia business has been hailed as a “landmark” deal that will liven up the region’s loan market. Bankers are now openly debating how they can get in on a financing that will tap both international and domestic liquidity. Pan Yue reports.

The European Union is set to make at least €25bn of budget funding available for sectors affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus, as its institutions join forces to tackle the economic impact of the outbreak. Rules on state aid and public finance will also be loosened, giving member states more room to launch fiscal stimulus measures.

CIMB Group Holdings and CIMB Bank chief executive Zafrul Aziz has been named Malaysia's new finance minister, amid tumultuous political change in the country.

Indonesia's OCBC NISP raised Rph2.75tr ($191m) from International Finance Corp through privately-placed sustainable bond transactions, split between a gender bond and a green bond.

Months of bidding for UK retail giant Tesco’s Asia business has finally ended, with Charoen Pokphand Group emerging victorious. Three banks have provided financing to the Thai conglomerate to support the purchase.

The Yangon Stock Exchange will be open for trading by international investors from March 20, according to an announcement by Myanmar’s securities regulator.

Acleda Bank has kicked off bookbuilding for a Riel380.7bn ($94.4m) IPO, set to be the first on the stock exchange in almost three years.