"High-grade, government-owned corporates with strategic assets in the largest economy in Asia remain popular with investors globally, " said Duncan Phillips, co-head of debt syndication in Asia excluding Japan at Citigroup Inc.

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Last week the Emerald Isle had a successful syndication, reopening an older issue of five-year debt.

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But the bond-syndication arms of those same banks need hedge funds to buy the debt they issue on behalf of their corporate clients.

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