Korean Air Lines Co Ltd plans to spend 1.8 trillion won ($1.62 billion) to become the top shareholder of indebted Asiana Airlines Inc, in aviation's first major consolidation since COVID-19 brought the industry to its knees, Reuters reported. It will also be the biggest shake-up in South Korean air travel since Asiana’s founding ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with the airline eventually integrated into Korean Air to create a national carrier commanding about 60% of international routes.

Chinese banks and fund managers dumped their holdings of riskier corporate bonds on Friday after a series of defaults by top-rated state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sent shockwaves through the mainland corporate bond market, Reuters reported. As lower-rated bond yields rose, analysts speculated the defaults suggested authorities were going back to cleaning up excessive debt build-up in an economy emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. A Chinese miner that defaulted this week meanwhile canceled Friday’s investor meeting for fear it would turn chaotic after too many creditors showed up.

A smattering of high-profile Chinese debt defaults this week may give bullish foreign investors pause and likely dampen the debt sales outlook, bankers and analysts said, as a bond market selloff revived worries about flaky government support, Reuters reported. State-owned miner Yongcheng Coal and Electricity Holding Group surprised investors and sparked a regulatory probe by defaulting this week on debt obligations just three weeks after it raised a billion yuan ($151 million).

Brilliance Automotive Holdings, the Chinese joint venture partner of BMW, said its parent Huachen Automotive Group may undergo restructuring after a creditor filed an application to a Chinese court, Reuters reported. Huachen, owned by the government of Liaoning province, defaulted on a 1-billion-yuan ($151.88 million) bond last month, joining a growing number of delinquent state firms in a development that hit investor confidence and roiled China’s credit bond market.

The United States, China and other G20 countries on Friday agreed for the first time on a common approach for restructuring government debt as the coronavirus crisis leaves some poorer nations at risk of default, Reuters reported. The agreement came as Zambia said it would not pay an overdue Eurobond coupon by Friday’s deadline, putting it on track to become Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default.

Banks have been able to convince corporate borrowers to avoid applying for debt restructuring given that the “negative externalities" and aggregate debt recast are not expected to breach the ₹1-trillion mark, a State Bank of India report said on Wednesday, Mint reported. “In terms of numbers, assuming 15%-20% of the corporates had opted for moratorium, based on our earlier analysis, the restructuring amount originally envisaged was up to ₹7 trillion," Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, SBI said in the SBI Ecowrap report.

China’s bond market regulator launched an investigation on Thursday into a default by a mining firm, the latest in a series of setbacks for state-backed companies as the government winds down support for an economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) said it was launching a “self-disciplinary” investigation into Yongcheng Coal & Electricity Holding Group Co Ltd, which defaulted less than a month after issuing a new bond.

Struggling flag carrier Malaysia Airlines’ previous attempt to turn itself round collided with low-cost local rival AirAsia Group’s rise. Now, both companies have run into the same turbulence, the Financial Times reported. Malaysia Airlines, which has yet to recover from two 2014 tragedies that made global headlines, faces a growing risk of being forced to halt flights unless it secures aid. But the state has frowned on the idea of another bailout. A group of creditors recently rejected a proposal by Malaysia Airlines to restructure its RM16bn ($3.85bn) in liabilities.

Japan's Nissan Motor Co is struggling to revive a fortune that was weakened by scandal and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The automaker warned in July of a record 470 billion yen (3.36 billion pounds) operating loss for the year to March 2021 and its lowest sales in a decade, as global auto sales slumped. Both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global rate Nissan’s debt at Baa3 and BBB-, respectively, one step above non-investment grade. Both agencies have negative outlooks on the debt.

AIRASIA X Bhd (AAX), the low-cost long-haul affiliate of AirAsia Group Bhd, is expected to file an amendment to its originating summons next week, to make its debt restructuring proposal more palatable to the 1,200 unsecured creditors that the airline is asking to write down their dues, The Edge Markets reported. This was disclosed to Kuala Lumpur High Court Judicial Commissioner Anand Ponnudurai by the lawyer for AAX last Friday (Oct 30).