Biostime raises $322 million from CB

Biostime International, a Chinese milk powder company, made its post-IPO capital markets debut on Tuesday with a HK$2.5 billion $322 million convertible bond.

Taking advantage of a share price that has tripled in the past year, the Hong Kong-listed company raised zero-coupon finance at a time when interest rates and straight bond yields are expected to edge higher as the US Federal Reserve continues to unwind its asset purchases and the US economy recovers.

Biostime sources its milk powder in Europe and sells at the premium end of the Chinese market, which has allowed it to profit from the toxic-additive scandals at domestic dairy firms...