Americas

In a reversal of fortunes, asset managers became net buyers across major commodities this week, responding to tightening credit spreads.

TriOptima the over-the-counter post-trade service provider, has torn up more than $750tr in notional principal outstanding contracts since it launched its compression service for OTC derivatives in 2003, the firm said on Monday.

Diebold, the US cash machine (ATM) manufacturer, had bank meetings this week for its $1.3bn term loan ‘B’, backing its $1.8bn acquisition of Wincor Nixdorf.

Costa Rica based lender Banco Bac San José is looking to syndicate a slice of a $75m borrowing in Asia, sending out an outline of the loan to prospective participants in the region on Monday.

Brazil’s emphatic return to international bond markets on Thursday was likely designed to encourage its non-sovereign issuers to the market, said Lat Am bond bankers, although some questioned whether these deals would materialise.

Votorantim Cimentos, the cement making arm of Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim SA, will buy back just €120m of its euro denominated bonds after most bondholders rejected the terms of a proposed tender offer. The company was hoping to buy back €350m.

The World Bank last Friday printed in Canadian dollars for the first time in a year, seizing on strong sentiment following the European Central Bank's latest bout of monetary easing.

Another week and another first for the Schuldschein market, in what has been a stunning first quarter for the German private placement market. Fresenius US Finance II has completed the largest dollar deal in the market, raising $400m, according to bankers.

Mexican duo Pemex and América Móvil headed to Europe to raise financing this week, becoming the first corporates of the year to join the trend of Latin American borrowers selling euro denominated debt.

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Nasdaq this week agreed to buy International Securities Exchange (ISE) from Deutsche Boerse in a transaction valued at $1.1bn in cash and debt, a move that will give it a dominant position in the options market. It also adds another twist to the wider battle for hegemony in global derivatives exchange and clearing.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) and National Australia Bank (NAB) raised more than €3bn this week in the US dollar denominated covered bond market, nearly doubling supply seen so far this year.