KfW

The Inter-American Development Bank has printed a £250m December 2019 bond that has set a new record for year-to-date supranational and agency sterling issuance.

Both KfW and the Council of Europe hit the books in sterling-denominated deals that raised £300m apiece.

Supranational and agency borrowers have long anticipated a wave of demand from American investors as US government sponsored enterprise issuance dwindles. But this week there were concrete signs that the dollar bond market has shaken off the problems that prevented the big switch. Craig McGlashan reports.

A healthy euro benchmark pipeline is building for next week, with one supranational looking to print and a pair of sovereigns believed to be considering deals, after a week that didn’t finish as strongly as it started for core issuers.

KfW raised €3bn with a slow burning seven year benchmark on Thursday, leaving SSA bankers wary about the threat of over saturation in the currency as several issuers mull deals for next week.

The European Stability Mechanism is seeking ideas for a bond issue next week, as the euro market burst back into life following a holiday across much of Europe on Wednesday.

Last year’s difficult dollar conditions looked firmly in the past on Tuesday as a pair of issuers tapped different parts of the curve for big deals — and other issuers readied themselves for trades.

Hong Kong-listed China SCE Property has completed a $400m fundraising via four mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

A pair of SSA heavyweights are limbering up for the first public sector dollar benchmarks since the US Federal Reserve raised rates late in 2015 — and plenty more could follow ahead of the next Fed conflab.

Wind turbine company Nordex signed €1.4bn in loans on Tuesday. The five bookrunners flexed to accommodate a planned acquisition, in what was intended to be a plain refinancing.

With plenty of cash to deploy following a large number of redemptions, sterling investors piled into what looks likely to be KfW’s last sterling offering of the year on Tuesday.

KfW will use sustainability criteria when choosing leads for its green bonds. It is a logical and welcome step.