Headlines

An outsized $6.6bn bond deal by Evergrande, the Chinese developer, risks raising borrowing costs in Asia’s booming bond markets, analysts have warned, following a rare first-day price fall that left buyers of the deal nursing losses of $250m, the Financial Times reported. Asian companies have tapped international markets at a record pace this year, raising $128bn in US dollar-denominated bonds — almost double the amount at this point last year, according to ANZ.

Takata Corp will seek bankruptcy protection from creditors on Monday, two sources said, as the Japanese company faces billions of dollars in liabilities stemming from the biggest recall in automotive history, Reuters reported. The firm, whose defective air-bag inflators have been blamed for at least 16 deaths and more than 150 injuries worldwide, will file for protection in Tokyo District Court under the Civil Rehabilitation Act, Japan's version of U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said the sources, one of whom has direct knowledge of the matter and one who was briefed on the process.

Champions of the rapidly expanding $2 trillion Islamic finance market are probably hoping the Dana Gas situation will go away, and they may yet get their wish, Bloomberg News reported. The Middle Eastern energy explorer sent shockwaves through the Shariah industry this month when, as part of its battle to restructure debt, it declared the bonds it issued were no longer legal under Islamic law.

A complex credit product that regulators are still trying to get their heads around is proving popular with some big institutional investors in Europe, Bloomberg News reported. The product is a synthetic securitization, in which a bank pays an investor to take on the credit risk of a portfolio while keeping the actual loans on its balance sheet. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has warned such deals can hide a bank’s true risk, while Sweden’s regulator has said it’s planning new rules to keep up with the innovation behind the product.

Turkish Airlines Chairman Ilker Ayci is evaluating potential investments in other airlines to help safeguard expansion if the rise in protectionism presents hurdles to growth, Bloomberg News reported. The carrier, which offers more destinations than any other, is examining prospects in a range of markets, including India, China and the U.S., Ayci said in an interview at the Paris Air Show. “We’ve expanded through organic growth so far, but protectionist policies are rising,” he said. “So we’re exploring cross-airline relationships -- equity or non-equity.

The delayed $13bn takeover of India’s Essar Oil by a consortium led Rosneft has cleared its last serious obstacles, according to the Russian oil group’s chief executive Igor Sechin. Shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Sochi were told on Thursday by Mr Sechin that a “legal decision was received” that would allow the deal to proceed, the Financial Times reported.

Poland is slashing back plans to tap the bond market after a crackdown on tax avoidance raised more cash than expected, the Financial Times reported. The eastern European nation is running a budget deficit just a tenth of the size it forecast for this year, thanks to a pick-up in economic growth, as well as higher revenue from the tax reforms.

Talks between Spanish real estate company Reyal Urbis and its lenders have broken down, leaving the company just one step away from full liquidation, a source with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday. Real Urbis has been in bankruptcy proceedings since 2013 and executives at the company have been in talks with its creditors in a last ditch attempt to avoid liquidation, which is likely to be triggered after they failed to get a majority of lenders on board for an agreement, Reuters reported.

The board of Intesa Sanpaolo has said conditionally agreed to buy parts of troubled Italian banks Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca in a move that should help stave off fears about the stability of the country’s banking system, the Financial Times reported. In a statement on Wednesday, Intesa – which is considered one of Italy’s healthiest banks – said it would approve a deal to buy the “good” assets of its troubled smaller rivals on the condition it have no impact on its core capital ratio or dividend policy.

With the dust settled on last week’s deal to avoid a Greek summer debt default (again), analysts and economists are turning to the country’s longer-term prospects in the eurozone, the Financial Times reported. Greece’s current bailout programme comes to an end in just under 14 months’ time when the country will either have to stand on its own feet after eight years of rescues or ask for yet another bailout. Key to any judgment about Greece’s solvency will be its ability to tap the financial markets.