Société Générale

Commodities company Mercuria has returned for its annual borrowing of $980m. This time, it is enticing banks with a 10bp Covid-19 premium on the loan margin and fees.

Fresenius, the German healthcare company, pushed ahead with a €1bn dual tranche no-grow trade on Monday, despite an issuer in another sector pulling its deal as wider markets plummeted.

Sustainability-linked bonds took a full year to get going after Enel, the Italian power and gas company, introduced the structure in September 2019. But they are now gathering pace. This week Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, printed a deal, just a week after Suzano, the Brazilian pulp and paper group, had become the second issuer.

Banks and insurance companies were falling over one another to issue green bonds this week, with deal arrangers seeing ESG labels as near infallible ways of bringing pricing through fair value, write Tyler Davies and David Freitas.

Belgium and Ireland both tapped the ultra-long end of the curve this week to continue a record breaking year for euro-denominated MTNs of 50 years or more, as insurers look for returns amid low rates.

Amadeus IT group, the Spanish travel technology company, and German logistics company Kion Group offered corporate bond investors the chance to pick up riskier debt on Thursday, as the demand for higher yielding securities drives large parts of the primary market.

Bank of China took yet another step this week to build China’s sustainability market by selling Asia’s first blue bond to benefit ocean-related projects — opening the door for similar deals from the region. Morgan Davis reports.

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, is set to join the nascent sustainability-linked bond market this week after mandating banks for a trade and investors will have another chance to pick up crossover rated debt in a deal from forklift truck maker Kion Group.

Société Générale has added to the recent trend for green deals in the FIG market by launching a €1bn 'positive impact' bond, backed by €5bn of demand.

Bank of China printed Asia’s first blue bond on Monday, with plans to use the roughly $940m raised to benefit ocean-related sustainability projects.

Burberry, the UK fashion house, was bang on trend on Monday with its debut bond in sterling, showing that rampant demand exists across currencies for sustainability-themed debt.

Bank of China rolled out a dual-currency blue bond on Monday, making it the first borrower in Asia to market a marine sustainability transaction.