Americas

There has been precious little cheer in the dollar market but Anheuser Busch Inbev (AB InBev) provided some on Thursday when it printed the biggest corporate investment grade trade since October amid signs of improving sentiment.

After waiting nearly a month, US engineering firm Emerson Electric on Tuesday landed the dual tranche deal it roadshowed in December. The €1bn dual tranche offering was a good deal in its own right, but could also herald the return of the Reverse Yankee market in 2019.

The surprise decision by Jim Yong Kim to quit as president of the World Bank and join a private fund has triggered a race for the top job in development finance, at a time when the US, the Bank's largest shareholder, is hostile to multilateralism. By Phil Thornton

Research by a US thinktank shows that the World Bank will have to carry out major reform of its lending to China to meet US-driven goals to focus loans on projects with benefits outside wealthy provinces. By Phil Thornton

Danske Bank is waiting until activist investor Bill Browder gives a press conference before deciding whether to proceed with the sale of a senior non-preferred bond. News of the conference derailed the deal on Wednesday, after final terms and a $3bn size had already been set.

Brazilian bank BTG Pactual is asking holders of its perpetual bonds issued in 2014 to agree to a new indenture that allows the lender to change the issuing branch of the notes.

Appetite for eurozone sovereigns is showing no signs of slowing down after Ireland and Portugal joined Belgium this week in scoring their largest ever syndication order books. Several other borrowers sold euro trades on Wednesday, with more supply expected this week as the pipeline has “accelerated” ahead of next week’s parliamentary vote on the UK’s Brexit deal.

After a run of triple-B rated corporate bond issuance, A-rated names have returned to the market and paid lower premiums than the higher beta issuers had, but 10.75 years remains the longest tenor to date.

Danske Bank offered its senior non-preferred bond to dollar investors on Wednesday, after UniCredit raised $3bn in the format the day before.

Syndicate bankers say that larger than normal new issue concessions being paid by US investment-grade corporates in bond markets mean Latin American borrowers are in no rush to get the year started.

UniCredit came to the dollar market on Tuesday, looking to sell a public senior non-preferred bond after its large private placement a few months ago. The bank was thought to be offering a large premium.

A benign start to the year for major equity indices could be just the comfort blocks bankers need to price deals before corporate blackouts begin.