Americas

TV Azteca, the broadcaster owned by Mexico’s third richest man Ricardo Salinas Pliego, missed a coupon payment on a $400m bond on Tuesday, leaving some concerned about the implications for other Grupo Salinas-controlled bond issuers.

UK biotech firms are continuing to reap the benefits from US listings. On Tuesday Autolus Therapeutics, an early stage biopharma firm backed by Syncona Investments, became the latest UK Biotech firm to raise capital on the US Nasdaq in a $100m transaction. The deal shows the continued advantages for early stage European biotech firms in having a US listing.

A blank cheque company fronted by Andrea Pignataro, the founder and executive chairman of trading software and financial data group ION, has listed on the Nasdaq, raising $300m.

Chinese cloud-based communications provider Cloopen Group Holdings saw its stock price triple on the first day of trading, after sealing a $320m IPO above the marketed range.

Uruguay’s dollar bonds are hot property, but the sovereign is planning to focus its international bond issuance efforts on its domestic currency in 2021 as it looks to develop the peso market and increase the share of its debt burden in the currency.

Banks that mostly missed out on last year's trading and origination windfall would find it difficult to make up for lost time by leaning into investment banking; that ship has probably already sailed.

EM bond buyers gave Guara Norte, a special purpose vehicle for Brazilian floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Cidade de Ilhabela, a warm welcome on its first bond market outing as investors say that emerging market high yield corporates offer the best chance for outperformance.

Convertible bonds are continuing to attract more mainstream attention, following dramatic outperformance of the asset class over the past year. This is driving new investors to the market.

HH&L Acquisition Corp has bagged $360m after increasing the size of its New York Stock Exchange IPO, in yet another sign that Asia-focused blank cheque companies are surging in popularity.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF amended its proposed bond exchange for the fourth time on Sunday evening, again upping the cash payment for holders of its March 2021s in a move that the issuer says has the support of the most stubborn group of bondholders.

This week in Keeping Tabs: do investors want companies to fail on sustainability-linked bond targets? And what what happens to the economy under a Joe Biden presidency in the US?

Huge demand for exposure to biotech companies among US equity investors is continuing to drive UK firms to list on the other side of the Atlantic through an IPO on the Nasdaq. On Thursday, Immunocore, a late-stage biotech firm focused on T-cell technology, priced an enlarged offering on the exchange and, on Friday, UK healthcare investor Syncona announced it was exploring a US IPO for one of its portfolio companies.