Americas

The FANGs, the catchy grouping of high growth tech disruptors, may have made sense in the past but the unique pressures being faced by each business as it matures and the economic cycle turns should lead investors to differentiate more between the technology-enabled stars of the US equities market.

Walt Disney has thrown Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox a lifeline in its battle to acquire the remaining shares of Sky it does not own by offering to buy Sky News, putting pressure on the £22.1bn debt-backed offer for the whole of Sky from rival bidder Comcast.

Brazilian mining giant Vale has completed the buy-back of $1.75bn in dollar bonds after more than half of the owners of its 4.375% 2022s agreed to sell their notes.

Brazilian state oil giant Petrobras will buy back $4bn of bonds as part of a tender offer after nearly twice as many bondholders offered to sell their notes.

With Moody’s analysts predicting last week that Tesla would need a $2bn capital injection, high yield analysts have pointed to the company’s Gigafactory as a likely source of collateral, as the flagship facility was excluded from the firm’s covenant package in its last deal.

US beauty retailer Coty announced pricing at the wide end of guidance for its $2.45bn-equivalent of new leveraged loans on Thursday, while reaching the end of the roadshow for $2bn-equivalent of new high yield bonds.

Barclays has made a series of hires in its emerging markets credit business.

Turkiye Is Bankasi (Isbank) recently signaled its intention to issue, while HSBC Canada has registered a covered bond corporate entity.

Two Latin American companies raised dollar funding this week while two stayed on the sidelines as bankers said broader market conditions affected appetite in the region.

Debt capital markets bankers are beginning to pitch additional tier one deals to Chile’s banks as the South American country’s general banking law brings regulations in line with Basel III recommendations.

Landlocked South American country Paraguay is looking at the possibility of creating a sovereign wealth fund as part of a possible adjustment of its fiscal responsibility law, said deputy finance minister Humberto Colman Castillo.

High-grade dollar bond supply continued to flow with a flurry of smaller deals this week but bankers see little to cheer about as a disappointing first quarter drew to a close.