Americas

Property developer Frasers Centrepoint is likely to begin bookbuilding on Friday for a potential S$900m ($651.5m) real estate investment trust IPO in Singapore, a source close to the deal told GlobalCapital Asia.

Cablevision, Argentina’s leading pay TV and broadband provider, will look to revive the country’s corporate bond market with a $500m deal to refinance existing debt.

Scotiabank de Costa Rica has included Taiwanese lenders in its list of invitees for a $75m two-tranche fundraising, following in the footsteps of many other borrowers from Latin America that are looking to Asia for liquidity.

Enduring optimism about Argentina’s economic prospects, increased funding from the federal government and the chance for investors to pick up significant spreads over the sovereign will continue to allow Argentine sub-sovereigns to tap international bond market in volume, said market participants.

Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig increased the size of a new bond by 50% and still saw it trade two points above reoffer the day after pricing this week as Lat Am syndicate bankers said they were lining up more corporate issuance from beleaguered Brazil.

Province of British Columbia

Walgreens Boots Alliance unveiled a five trancher on Thursday as it looked to tie up the acquisition financing for its $17bn purchase of Rite Aid ahead of the holiday weekend, following a bumper month for issuance in the US high grade bond market.

A pair of issuers reopened the 10 year part of the dollar curve for sovereigns, supranationals and agencies this week, but despite both trades gaining plaudits there is still scepticism over whether a $2bn-plus sized deal is possible.

Bayer and Monsanto are circling each other as they both seek acceptable terms for a merger that would create a world leader in crop science. For the equity capital markets, the deal holds out the possibility of one of the world’s largest ever rights issues.

Additional tier one paper took centre stage in the FIG market this week, with risk appetite firmly back on and new supply set to ramp up in the coming sessions.

Brent and WTI oil futures have risen to above $50 for the first time since November and July respectively, amid bullish short term positioning by aggressive managers and supportive supply data this week. But while traders called this a ‘psychological’ level for the commodity, physical markets are still sounding a note of caution.

The US has finally engaged with the internationalisation of the renminbi after years of stubbornly ignoring the currency’s rise. Market participants have welcomed the Rmb617m ($94.15m) worth of instruments issued by the New York branches of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), but say the developments are long overdue. Rev Hui reports.