Thailand

Japan Post sets sail with IPOs — Datang Environment files in HK — Banpu Power eyes Thai float — Larsen & Toubro seeks $300m listing

Australia-listed gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated expects to delay the IPO of its subsidiary in Thailand due to unfavourable market conditions, even as it fends off accusations of corruption dogging its Thai unit.

Datang Environment Industry Group Co, a unit of state-owned China Datang Group, is seeking to list in Hong Kong, tapping Citic CLSA Securities and Morgan Stanley as joint sponsors.

Thai petrochemical producer Indorama Ventures has made its debut in the Singapore dollar bond market, raising S$195m ($137m) from 10 year notes backed by the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF).

Mizuho Bank has raised Bt3bn ($83m) from its debut in the Thai bond market, with the deal also marking the first offering under a new pan-Asian initiative designed to streamline debt issuance. The trade received a robust response from investors, and is expected to pave the way for other similar transactions.

Indonesian oil and gas conglomerate Pertamina has picked three banks for a potential bond and is set to hit the road to meet investors.

Thailand has a lot to offer foreign issuers hoping to find funding opportunities in the offshore markets, but tougher regulations for foreign names and an illiquid swap market can put some issuers off. Perhaps not for long. Asiamoney talks to a group of leading market participants about the opportunities for foreign and domestic issuers in the Thai baht bond market.

Thailand's bond market still has a long way to grow to reach its potential, but in the diversity of credits and the availability of high yield borrowers, it has already achieved much that its peers in the ASEAN region are still dreaming about. Asiamoney sat down with a panel of high-level market participants to discuss Thailand's growing domestic debt market.

Asiamoney is pleased to present its choices for Asia’s Best Managed Companies 2015. The winners were the firms that impressed us the most through a combination of factors including innovation, financial performance and strategic execution, and after also surveying the views of regional analysts and investors. Our congratulations to all those chosen.

Thai company Indorama Ventures is set to meet Singapore dollar bond investors next week ahead of a proposed offering, which would mark its debut outing in the currency. The borrower is selling the bonds with a guarantee from the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF).

Mizuho Bank is expected to launch its inaugural bond in the Thai baht market on Wednesday, a few days later than planned as the borrower awaits orders from a key investor. The deal will be the first to be printed under a new pan-Asian initiative designed to streamline debt issuance.

The Hong Kong government this week made its pitch to be the link between Asean countries and China under the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. The city should leverage its “super-connector” role to become the Asean trade centre on the OBOR map, said So Kam Leung, Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit on September 14.