ICBC (Asia)
This award, while hotly contested, only really had possible one winner. Under its chairman, Gao Ming, Hong Kong-based ICBC (Asia) – which is a subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – has become a regional powerhouse in syndicated lending in a remarkably short space of time.
Its financial muscle enabled it to extend a mix of term loans and syndicated loans to a number of projects and corporates scattered across southeast Asia over the last 12 months.
Pick of the bunch were: a $100 million syndicated loan disbursed to Xian-based mono-crystalline solar panel maker Longi, to expand its manufacturing base in the Sama Jaya Industrial Zone in Sarawak; a $65 million syndicated loan disbursed to Indonesian group Astra International; and a $50 million syndicated loan channelled to Indonesian state power producer PLN.
Over the last 12 months, ICBC (Asia) has extended $263 million in term and syndicated loans to half a dozen of southeast Asia’s leading corporates, including the Manila-based conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, with a clear focus on deals that span the food, power, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors.
The Hong Kong-based but China-controlled financial institution is also exploring the softer aspects of financial and corporate development, hosting a BRI forum in Hong Kong that attracted corporate clients and government officials from across Greater China and the Asean region.