Structured Equity House: Morgan Stanley
Leading the pack
In a bumper year for equity-linked issuance in Asia, one bank stood out for its ability to deliver the biggest and most significant deals for clients. For playing an outsized role in the market and showing its capacity for innovation, Morgan Stanley is IFR Asia’s Structured Equity House of the Year.
Morgan Stanley realised the growing importance of equity-linked financings to Asian issuers in 2025 and put its expertise to good use with a range of large deals across multiple markets.
The bank generated league table credit of US$6.5bn from international equity-linked issuance from Asia ex-Japan for an incredible 16.6% market share, according to LSEG data.
Issuance of equity-linked bonds in Asia has picked up pace as expectations of higher-for-longer US dollar interest rates coupled with the potential for upside in share prices create the perfect environment for borrowers and investors alike. The product has also become a credible source of liquidity for investment-grade issuers.
Morgan Stanley was quick to spot the market trend, arranging eight of the 10 largest equity-linked deals during the period.
“Not only have we done more deals than our competitors, we also have the largest number of deals where we have led the transaction,” said Saurabh Dinakar, head of Asia Pacific global capital markets.
Alibaba Group Holding’s US$3.2bn convertible bond, the world’s largest this year, is a perfect example. Morgan Stanley was book coordinator, leading a nine-bank syndicate to help the Chinese e-commerce giant revisit the CB market after selling a record US$5bn CB in 2024 – in which Morgan Stanley was a joint bookrunner.
Alibaba’s new deal also showcased Morgan Stanley’s thirst for innovation. It was the first Reg S-only equity-linked offering from a Hong Kong and US-listed issuer marketed against a live trading stock in Hong Kong, allowing CB investors to hedge their positions.
Morgan Stanley’s dominance in China was also highlighted by the HK$11.8bn (US$1.5bn) CB of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China.
Morgan Stanley, as a joint bookrunner, helped Ping An sell a US$3.5bn CB in 2024. As the insurer returned less than 12 months later it employed Morgan Stanley as sole bookrunner.
The deal demonstrated the US bank’s unparalleled ability to time the market. Seeing the opportunity presented by a lower Hong Kong dollar base rate, Morgan Stanley helped Ping An sell a Hong Kong dollar-denominated CB at favourable terms. The deal was priced at zero coupon/yield and a conversion premium of 21.5%, achieving improved pricing terms compared with the 2024 issue that priced at a 0.875% coupon and a 25% premium.
A US$2bn exchangeable bond for Baidu into Trip.com showcased Morgan Stanley’s ability as joint bookrunner to tailor trades for clients.
Chinese internet company Baidu, which has been a shareholder of Trip.com since 2015, monetised part of its stake in the online travel firm through the EB. The deal was priced at zero coupon/yield and a high exchange premium of 43%, meaning the investment-grade issuer will either offload its stake at an optimal pricing level or enjoy interest-free borrowing.
Morgan Stanley also worked on landmark transactions beyond China. Banking on international investors’ growing interest in Indian companies, the US bank helped Nasdaq-listed Indian online travel firm MakeMyTrip raise US$1.44bn from a CB alongside a US$1.66bn share sale.
Morgan Stanley, as lead-left bookrunner, arranged a US$1.5bn CB for Nasdaq-listed Singapore ride-hailing and delivery company Grab Holdings, the largest CB from a South-East Asian issuer since 2021. The Reg S-only structure gave Grab maximum flexibility to access the equity-linked market at the earliest opportunity, skipping the lengthy 144A documentation process.
Morgan Stanley also penetrated the Taiwan market, which has seen an issuance wave driven by surging global demand for AI-related technologies. It was a joint bookrunner for Taiwan’s largest-ever CB issue – the US$1.2bn deal of Wistron, an AI server supplier to Nvidia.
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