E-commerce giant Amazon did the unthinkable this week and printed two year debt just 10bp wide of where investors could buy US Treasuries, the closest a company has ever got to US government debt. But with a high US inflation number sending a shockwave through markets days later, corporate and FIG credit markets are wondering whether they need to brace for a period of panic, write Tyler Davies and Mike Turner.
In the film 'Annie Hall', Woody Allen recounts two diners’ experience at a restaurant. “One of them says: ‘Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.’ The other one says: ‘Yeah, I know; and such small portions.’”
Amazon grabbed headlines by pouncing opportunistically into the market and pricing an $18.5bn bond this week that included a record tight spread over Treasuries on a sustainability-labelled two year note, but the bigger story was inflation fears skewing the curve steeper.
Europe’s corporate bond market continued to pump out deals this week, despite the equities market licking its wounds after inflation fears turned stock prices into a sea of red.
Turkish companies and banks are succeeding in raising funds in international debt markets, even as the country strays near the edge of an economic precipice and experienced investors view Turkish risk with disdain.
Triple-B credit OC Oerlikon achieved a remarkable result on Monday, said bankers, as it issued a Sfr575m three tranche deal, which it will use to fund its acquisition of INglass. It was joined on screens by Pfandbriefbank's smallest deal since 2019.
A group of nine issuers from Asia sold green or sustainability dollar bonds this week, propelling volumes to new highs. A large part of the debt business in the region is still focused on green and the environment, but there is growing urgency to pay more attention to governance standards. Morgan Davis reports.
A number of Chinese high yield borrowers that hit the dollar bond market this week have seen mixed responses to their notes in secondary trading, which bankers say is a sign of changing market sentiment and investor response.
Deutsche Bank has hired Priyanka Verma, a senior investment banker specialising in pharmaceutical services and diagnostics, from HSBC in New York.
The newest batch of euro corporate bonds have drifted wider after the shock high US inflation figure, though Europe’s debt bankers say the secondary movements are not too alarming yet.
China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) sold two tranches of five year bonds, one in dollars and the other in euros, to net more than $663m.
Europe’s corporate bond market continued to pump out deals on Wednesday, despite the equities market licking its wounds after inflation fears brought a sea of red to stock prices.
The rapid pace of new dollar bond issuance from Chinese property companies continued from Monday into Tuesday as four more borrowers joined the fray.
Philippine company Vista Land & Lifescapes bagged $170m from a tap of its 2027 notes this week.
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International has sold its second dollar bond of 2021, raising $500m once again.
China Water Affairs Group has made a rare outing in the debt market for a $200m green bond.
French telecoms firm Iliad is looking for at least €300m from the Schuldschein market, and is trialing an innovative tenor extension in one of its tranches.
Europe’s high grade corporate bond market ignored a deeply red day in equity markets on Tuesday, and Volkswagen Leasing and Eurofins Scientific got a decent run at printing new debt.
IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, has become the latest airline company to tap the convertible bond market for financing during the pandemic, as it continues to burn vast amounts of cash amid a slow recovery in global travel.
SSA issuers are flocking back to the dollar and euro market this week after seemingly just pausing for breath over the last two weeks, when deals were thin on the ground with many of the top tier names well ahead on their funding rates. They will be hoping to match a trend from last week, where conditions approved across most markets.
Dennis Watson, a managing director and Barclays' head of real estate, has left the bank after some 35 years with the firm.
Austrin electricity and gas company Energie Burgenland has launched a Schuldschein deal weeks after another Austrian utility wrapped up a transaction in the same market.
GLP, a Singapore-based logistics company, joined the flurry of green bonds hitting the market on Monday, with a subordinated perpetual note.
Korea Expressway Corp sold its first sustainability dollar bond on Monday, raising $500m as its scarcity value appealed to investors.
JSW Hydro Energy, a subsidiary of Indian power company JSW Energy, sold its first international bond this week, taking $707m from the green transaction.
Cathay Pacific Airways has sold its first dollar bond in more than 20 years, battling suppressed business over the last two years to raise $650m from the long-overdue deal.
Four Chinese property companies rushed into the dollar bond market on Monday, following weeks of limited to no supply from the sector.
Nomura has named Oliver Holt as head of debt syndicate for Asia ex-Japan, succeeding veteran banker Alister Moss, who is taking on a new position at the bank.
Seven Chinese issuers bagged Rmb7.3bn ($1.14bn) from their inaugural sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) in the onshore market, as part of Beijing’s efforts to meet its ambitious carbon goals.
One of Citi's Asia Pacific debt syndicate co-heads has left the bank, GlobalCapital Asia has learnt.
The spread benefit of ESG-linked debt was on clear display in Europe’s corporate bond market this week. For the second time in days, investors were offered two similar transactions and paid significantly more for the ESG option, in this case a green bond from Red Eléctrica.
A smattering of European investment grade companies are lining up bond issues, as May continues to bring the turnaround in issuance levels that the market had been hoping for in the run-up to the UK bank holiday at the start of the month.
Monday brought another strong start to the week for European high yield, with six new bonds announced and other deals, such as EQT’s Cerba healthcare financing, set to close this week. Italian issuers led the way, with bonds for International Design Group, Lutech and Cedacri in the market.
JP Morgan is running the acquisition financing for Ion Investment Group’s purchase of Italian banking software group Cedacri, a major shift for the finance, technology and data group, which has relied on Credit Suisse and UBS to fund its spree of its debt-fuelled acquisitions. The group also turned to high yield bonds for the first time recently, a major departure for a company which once prized the privacy of the loan market.
Crédit Agricole has promoted four staffers to fill vacant and newly created positions in its debt capital markets leadership team, including global head of financial institutions DCM and head of European corporate DCM.
Hong Kong's embattled Cathay Pacific Airways is gauging the market’s response for a new dollar bond, its first international outing in more than two decades.
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EQT achieved a strong response from investors on Friday when it launched the first sustainability-linked bond from a private equity firm, and only the second from a financial company. The €500m deal is tied to greenhouse gas emission cuts and gender diversity metrics.
Crédit Agricole emphasised high levels of activity in syndicated loans and fixed income, especially among French clients, as it revealed a strong set of quarterly earnings on Friday.
French steel parts and distribution company Jacquet Metal Service has launched a further Schuldschein, according to sources. The market is gearing up for somewhat of a renaissance after a moribund 2020 and GlobalCapital understands that 10-15 more transactions are set to be launched in May.
Four Latin America and Caribbean companies sold new issues in the dollar market at very tight looking levels on Thursday, as investors continue to feel pressure to put to cash to work amid extremely high liquidity.
Golden Energy and Resources drew in investors with an 8.875% yield on its bond on Thursday, allowing the mining company to raise $285m.
Three regular dollar bond issuers from China were the first out of the gates to tap investors on Thursday following a long holiday in the Mainland.
BOC Aviation has raised $250m from a tap of bonds sold just last month, finding solid support from US investors for its comeback.
Green bonds took centre stage in the US corporate bond market this week, as issuance began to mount again after the recess for earnings blackouts. No less than three deals paired green and conventional tranches.
Sustainability-linked bonds are the hot capital markets product of 2021, and are developing so fast that even specialists in the field find it hard to keep up with the pace. The market has benefited from the very early definition of guiding principles last year but, writes Jon Hay, big questions remain about what the instrument is for and how it should be governed.
The demand for sustainability-linked bonds was made clear on Thursday, as French minerals company Imerys’s deal commanded more than double the demand of Swedish property firm Sagax’s conventional trade, despite sharing big similarities.
Despite paying a chunky new issue premium, Deutsche Bahn was still able to score some attractive arbitrage with its latest Swiss franc deal this week, and with favourable pricing on offer for foreign names, bankers are confident more could follow.
The new governor of Turkey’s central bank, Şahap Kavcıoğlu, kept rates unchanged at his second monetary policy meeting since taking office. Although a rate cut was unlikely, the decision bodes well for next week’s planned dollar bond issue by LimakPort.
Europe’s high grade corporate bond investors clamoured for spread this week, with low triple-B rated companies Aker BP and Holding d’Infrastructures de Transport (HIT) finding ample demand a day after Eni had sold hybrid debt.
The demand for sustainability-linked bonds was laid bare on Thursday, as French minerals company Imerys’s SLB commanded more than double the demand of Swedish property firm Sagax’s conventional trade, despite both deals sharing major similarities.
Deutsche Bank has hired Priyanka Verma, a senior investment banker specialising in pharmaceutical services and diagnostics, from HSBC in New York.
A number of Chinese high yield borrowers that hit the dollar bond market this week have seen mixed responses to their notes in secondary trading, which bankers say is a sign of changing market sentiment and investor response.
Turkish companies and banks are succeeding in raising funds in international debt markets, even as the country strays near the edge of an economic precipice and experienced investors view Turkish risk with disdain.
French telecoms firm Iliad is looking for at least €300m from the Schuldschein market, and is trialing an innovative tenor extension in one of its tranches.
The UK's High Court delivered a ringing endorsement of the country's new restructuring regime this week in a landmark ruling on gym chain Virgin Active, showing that companies have a new route other than CVAs to cut their debts to landlords. Silas Brown and Owen Sanderson report.
Europe’s high grade corporate bond investors clamoured for spread this week, with low triple-B rated companies Aker BP and Holding d’Infrastructures de Transport (HIT) finding ample demand a day after Eni had sold hybrid debt.
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