Americas

Argentine oil and gas company YPF has launched an exchange offer for all of its $6.228bn of outstanding international bonds, taking advantage of a new central bank rule that enables companies to issue bonds guaranteed by export receivables. The proposed exchange bonds would not pay interest until 2023, and Fitch said the deal qualifies as a distressed exchange under its criteria — even though investors will end up owning more bonds than they started with.

This week in Keeping Tabs: US Capitol invaded but economic growth projections up, the UK's 12 week policy on vaccines, and insolvency in Europe.

CPPIB Capital mandated the banks to lead its first ever 20 year euro benchmark on Friday, in what is also the first mandate announcement for a benchmark transaction by a non-sovereign/sub-sovereign public sector borrower in the long end of the euro curve in 2021.

MTN issuance out of Asia and Sweden provided some of the week’s bright spots in what was otherwise a quiet start to the year. With the public market now in full swing, bankers expect the private placement market to get up to speed in the coming weeks.

Gracell Biotechnologies has raised $209m from its Nasdaq IPO after increasing the size of the float and pricing the deal above the initial marketed range.

Latin America’s largest e-commerce company MercadoLibre and Mexican cement maker Cemex kept up the hectic conditions in the LatAm primary bond market on Thursday, with the huge order book on MercadoLibre’s inaugural bond issue the clearest indication of risk appetite among EM buyers.

Emerging markets issuers of all flavours ignored convention and stormed into primary bond markets this week, with great success. Renewed warnings about increasing debt ratios in emerging nations were no match for an extraordinarily supportive technical picture as investors piled into deals — even as Democratic victories in US Senate run-offs pushed rates higher. Mariam Meskin and Oliver West report.

HSBC’s aims to boost market share in investment banking and rebalance towards Asia remain intact despite the resignation of one of its most senior lieutenants. But 2021 must be about execution, writes David Rothnie.

The New York Stock Exchange’s flip-flop on whether to delist three Chinese telecommunications giants caused plenty of confusion in the market this week, but mainland companies are still keen to sell shares in the US. Jonathan Breen reports.

Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab Holdings has added a dash of excitement to the loan market with plans to raise $750m from a new outing. Pan Yue reports.

Singapore-based Ivanhoe Capital listed a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) on the New York Stock Exchange this week, raising $240m after increasing the size of the float.

Mexican non-bank lender Crédito Real began investor calls on Wednesday as it looks to take advantage of highly liquid bond markets to partially refinance a bond maturing in 2023, and simultaneously align the covenant packages on all of its senior unsecured bonds.