Americas

Telecoms company Cable & Wireless sold $500m of eight year paper at the tight end of guidance to become the first high yield name from Latin America or the Caribbean to issue in dollars since July 12.

Colombia reopened Lat Am bond markets on Wednesday but Peru is likely to provide a greater test as it meets investors ahead of a proposed nuevo sol and dollar-denominated dual tranche deal.

Yankee banks continued to dominate the high-grade calendar as lenders from across the globe teed up benchmark deals.

Comcast got October off to a flyer after high-grade corporate dollar issuance slumped to its weakest level for four years in third quarter. However, aside from Comcast there were slim pickings in the high-grade market this week.

Comcast wowed the dollar market with the fourth biggest corporate bond of all time as investors jumped in to produce a bulging order book against a strong technical backdrop.

The International Finance Corp became the first issuer to launch a green Komodo bond — an offshore bond in Indonesian rupiah — on September 28. But the World Bank had the same idea: it launched a sustainability bond in rupiah the following week.

American real estate investment trust (REIT) WP Carey paid a significant premium when it sold its second euro deal of 2018 on Tuesday. Despite the lack of reverse Yankee issuance this year, investors needed some persuading to buy the 7.5 year deal.

When celebrated investor Bill Gross said that 'bonds, like men, are in a bear market,' he was on to more than he might have realised.

Cable & Wireless, the Caribbean telecoms company, is set to raise $500m of new eight year non-call three bonds on Thursday as EM investors say they expect US high yield buyers to give the deal momentum.

On the day that Colombia reopened the international bond market for Latin American sovereigns after an almost three month hiatus, Peru announced investor meetings ahead of a proposed nuevo sol and dollar-denominated issuance.

Maybe it was the euphoria of seeing three potential Lat Am borrowers hit the screens on one day after three arid months but DCM bankers heaped praise on Colombia’s dual tranche bond deal on Wednesday as it tapped international markets for the first time in over a year.

Rising oil prices, strong corporate performance and a supply shortage have driven US high yield bond spreads to their tightest level since the financial crisis. After several cycles of tightening and widening this year, some investors think that this time there is still more room for the rally to run.