Bank of America

Several of Europe’s IPOs moved forward today, with coverage and pricing updates and the launches of bookbuilds.

Bertelsmann, the German broadcaster and publisher, issued a €500m bond on Monday that attracted a book of nearly €2bn, but kept the initial size as pricing inside guidance stirred investor sensitivity.

Eurofima was the sole issuer testing the euro waters on Monday, with bankers expecting a quiet second half of the month in the market after a frantic start to April in which issuers placed 12 benchmark deals.

The Asian Development Bank and Oesterreichische Kontrollbank hit screens with dollar deals on Monday, with ADB adding more supply to a burst of dual tranche trades that included deals last week by the World Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Wells Fargo quickly drew a large order book for a €3.5bn dual-tranche senior trade on Monday, as it became the first of the US banks to fund in euros after last week’s better than expected results.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has mandated three banks to roadshow dollar benchmark, jumping into the market for its first bond since 2009 ahead of up to $20bn of potential sovereign supply from the region this year.

Tata Power’s subsidiary Bhira Investments has moved the deadline for commitments for a $460m refinancing to late April.

China Aoyuan Property Group hit the market for a three year dollar bond on Monday in what is only the fourth transaction in the currency this year from the country’s high yield property sector.

NBTY, the US vitamins and nutritional supplements manufacturer owned by Carlyle, had bank meetings in London this morning for its $1.8bn refinancing package, with another scheduled for Monday in New York.

Kia Motors Corp had a stellar response to its first dollar outing in almost five years, selling a dual-tranche bond on the back of what bankers say was one of the biggest order books achieved by a South Korean issuer. The combination of the strength of Kia's credit and its rarity value proved to be a winning recipe.

Steinhoff International, the South African furniture maker and goods retailer that has been on an acquisition spree, raised €1.1bn on Thursday with a convertible bond that bucked the recent trend of deals that have struggled, partly because it was the kind of simple, traditional structure investors like.

Issuers stormed out of the blocks with a set of deals across the curve this week, with factors including an increase in swap spreads on the short end, a positive feeling towards the US market since Janet Yellen’s statements in March and the start of the Japanese fiscal year all credited.