Americas

Three sterling deals hit the SSA market on Tuesday, bringing this year’s total volume to more than double last year’s and indicating that issuers and investors are yet to be put off by the confusion surrounding Brexit.

Fearful of missing out and, in the absence of competing credit supply, investors piled into six covered bonds on Tuesday with a combined value of more than €6bn.Royal Bank of Canada’s deal epitomised the state of investor frenzy as it was able to issue the largest deal of the year with a negative new issue premium.

Fishmeal producer Pesquera Exalmar has become the latest Peruvian corporate to opt for alternative sources of funding to refinance bonds after it used a syndicated loan to redeem its outstanding 2020s

Export Development Canada is set to become the fourth public sector borrower to issue a debut Sonia bond this year, after picking banks on Monday for a three year bond linked to the reference rate. Meanwhile, KfW will return for its second sterling benchmark of 2019, sticking with a five year maturity it issued in earlier in the month.

KBC Group was able to approach fair value with its senior offering on Monday, as the positivity of the last few sessions encouraged less frequent issuers like it and Sydbank to try the market. Other banks not yet in blackout could take advantage of the window this week.

Online property agent Shenzhen Fangdd Network Technology is looking to raise up to $500m from a listing in the US, according to a banker close to the deal.

Non-bank lender Crédito Real will show how far investor appetite for Mexican risk stretches as it looks to become the first sub-investment grade borrower from the country to issue in international bond markets in nine months.

Investors in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US can now begin to trade onshore Chinese bonds through Bloomberg terminals. The new access channel should slowly boost liquidity in China’s secondary bond market, said onshore bankers.

Mexico’s new head of public credit, Gabriel Yorio, has told GlobalCapital investors were receptive to the government’s messages, after it received hefty demand for its first bond issue since Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office as president on December 1.

Caribbean telecoms group Digicel has finally wrapped up a distressed debt exchange to avoid a potential default next year, after extended negotiations with bondholders. But Fitch warned on Monday that the move has “undermined” the group’s position with creditors.

Brazilian building materials company Votorantim Cimentos is looking to buy back up to $650m of outstanding bonds using funds that its parent company is set to receive from the sale of its stake in pulp and paper company Fibria.

Latin American bond bankers were urging issuers to head to market on Thursday after Mexico and Uruguay emphatically showed there was strong appetite for new paper.