International Investment Banking Magazine "IFR Asia": AMTD targets cross-border private boutique capital markets business

Headquartered in Hong Kong, AMTD is an integrated, licensed, non-bank financial services group that offers a wide range of financial services and solutions including capital markets & advisory, asset management and insurance brokerage to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients, forge linkage of capital and resources between Chinese and overseas markets. AMTD is well positioned to expand and capitalize on cross-border business opportunities by building a top of the class capital markets & advisory, asset management and insurance brokerage platform in Asia.

AMTD Group was mainly founded by CK Hutchison and Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2003. The Group has undergone a strategic revamp in October 2015. As a Hong Kong holding providing diversified financial platforms, the group is expanding its cross-border capital markets & advisory business. Within the past 6 months, it has won important roles in some flagship transactions. On Bank of Qingdao (3866.HK)’s US$640mm H-share IPO, AMTD was the Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner and led the completion of the deal jointly with Goldman Sachs. On Xinte Energy (1799.HK)’s US$190mm Hong Kong IPO, AMTD played the role of Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner with UBS. On Bank of Tianjin (1578.HK)'s US raised US$948mm H-share IPO, AMTD acted as the Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner, together with ABC International, BOC International and CCB International. AMTD was appointed as the Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner on China Minsheng Investment’s debut US$300mm 5-year USD bond issuance, Carnival Group (996.HK)’s debut US$180mm senior bond offering, and AMTD Group’s debut US$110mm 3-year HKSE-listed bond offering representing the first ever international USD bond offering from an unrated and unlisted financial services company from Asia. AMTD also won the title of Joint Bookrunner on Yunnan Provincial Investment’s US$300mm senior bond offering and Emperor International Holdings Limited (163.HK)’s HK$500mm international bond issuance. AMTD assisted in UCAR’s US$35mm B+ round financing & Dianrong’s US$207mm C round financing, etc.

As a rising star of Hong Kong capital markets, AMTD’s rapid growth in capital markets & advisory business has attracted the attention of issuers and investors in the capital markets. The strong support from AMTD's strategic shareholders brings in solid client base and pipelines.

Recently, International Financing Review (“IFR”), an internationally renowned investment banking-reviewed journals owned by Thomson Reuters published an article about AMTD. It indicated that AMTD is betting on the strength of its strong networks and broad access to Chinese capital to create one of the Greater China’s top-tier private boutique financial institutions. As a Hong Kong holding financial institution, AMTD was co-founded by Mr. Li Ka-shing, and is now backed by serveral strategic shareholders. In the current capital market, Chinese investors have a pivotal position; AMTD could ride on the wind to embark on the cross-border capital markets & advisory business.

In the interview with “IFR”, Mr. Calvin Choi, AMTD Group Chairman of the Board of Directors and President, a former investment banker with UBS and Citigroup, said that AMTD can deliver both anchor investor and influential high-net-worth individuals, and leverage on shareholder relationships as its biggest asset. He said, “We are uniquely positioned to capture strong deal flows and have significant insight into Chinese issuers or clients, in particulars the private sectors, of which our shareholders’ network of leading private enterprises in China provide solid client base and pipelines.” AMTD plans to double its capital markets & advisory headcount to 40 in the next 12-18 months, together with its insurance brokerage and asset management arms , the firm aims to be an important player, similar in size to the international arms of Chinese securities houses, such as Guotai Junan Securities, Haitong, and Citic.

IFR reviewed that “The new set-up gives AMTD access to a network of Chinese institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals, representing pockets of funding that can be used to find cornerstone investors.”

IFR concluded, “AMTD is the latest new entrant in Asia’s competitive investment banking arena, and its emergence will test whether or not a smaller operator with a more nimble business model can rival the full-service offering of the traditional investment banks.”

Source: “Minsheng’s AMTD targets investment banking “ IFR 2126, 26 March to 1 April 2016 by Frances Yoon