Country Garden reopens high-yield market with $300 million issue

Country Garden laid the strongest claim yet to being the first Asian borrower to re-open Asia's high-yield bond market when it priced a five-year deal arranged by J.P. Morgan yesterday.

It is the first stand-alone Asian high-yield corporate deal since Indian mining group Vedanta Resources raised $1.25 billion in June 2008. Last month, sub-investment grade Indonesian retailer Matahari Putra Prima completed a successful bond exchange, which included a substantial issue of new notes, and Indonesian state-owned power company PLN raised $750 million with a 10-year deal.

But, Country Garden's issue is the clearest sign so far that the high-yield market is open for Asian borrowers with a compelling story and, perhaps, a fan...