HNA's costly bond sale raises red flag

Strong demand for the unrated bond prompted the issuer to increase the size of the deal by 50% to $450 million.

The HKEX listed aluminium giant will use the money to stockpile bauxite, refinance debt, to invest in overseas projects, share repurchases and for general corporate purposes; it also made a concurrent share repurchase.

Hong Kong's finance secretary Paul Chan said the deal will "attract more cross-boundary Rmb financing and trading activities to Hong Kong".

Investor appetite for Asian debt shows no sign of flagging with good interest for deals from Hong Kong Airlines and CSI Properties.

The state-owned miner captures more than $8 billion of orders, highlighting investors' continuing hunt for yield.

Hong Kong's dim sum bond market has been growing strongly over the past 36 months.