Asia Roundup
Billionaire Piramal’s Shadow Bank Plans $1 Billion Foreign Debt
Billionaire Ajay Piramal’s Indian shadow lender is looking to raise as much as USD 1 billion in foreign currency loans this year to meet strong demand for retail credit, Bloomberg reported.
Mumbai-based Piramal Finance will mainly tap foreign banks and multilateral agencies for the loan, with tenors ranging from three to five years, Chief Executive Officer Jairam Sridharan said in an interview.
Zhong Lun Advises China Water Affairs on $150 Million Senior Notes Offering and Tender Offer
Zhong Lun acted as US, English and Hong Kong legal counsel to China Water Affairs Group on the offering of USD 150 million in additional 5.875% senior notes due 2030, according to the law firm’s LinkedIn post.
These notes will be consolidated and form a single series with the Chinese water supply company’s USD 150 million 5.875% senior notes due 2030 that were issued on 22 October 2025.
Zhong Lun also advised China Water Affairs on its concurrent tender offer to purchase for cash its outstanding 4.85% senior notes due 2026.
State Fund IPO Opens Door to Buy Into Uzbekistan’s Growth Story
Uzbekistan is kicking off a planned series of initial public offerings with the sale of about a 30% stake in the state investment fund, as part of the Central Asian nation’s push to entice international investors, Bloomberg reported.
The government is offering shares in the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) in London and Tashkent. The IPO is set to value the investment vehicle at USD 1.95 billion, a 20% discount to the pre-share listing net asset value, in a bid to drum up more interest. Many of the fund’s portfolio companies are slated for their own IPOs in the coming years.
Indonesia Roundup
Indonesia Foreign Reserves Fall Further to Two-Year Low in April
Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves fell further in April to the lowest in nearly two years as the central bank stepped up intervention to defend the rupiah, Bloomberg reported.
Foreign reserves fell USD 1.95 billion to USD 146.2 billion, the lowest since July 2024, due to the government’s external debt payments and the central bank’s measures to stabilize the rupiah, Bank Indonesia said. The stockpile has fallen by USD 10.27 billion this year.
Japfa Issues Debut $300 Million High-Yield Bond
Japfa Pte Ltd has issued its debut USD 300 million five-year high-yield bond with a 7.95% coupon, according to its LinkedIn post.
The offering had an orderbook of more than USD 1.35 billion, representing a 4.5x oversubscription, with investors from Asia (42%), EMEA (33%) and the US (25%).
Acrostics Asia is an independent credit intelligence provider that delivers forward-looking insights across Asian sovereigns, private credit and restructurings.