Banks

Investors have piled into bonds to fund the buyout of UK theme park operator Merlin, despite the covenants on the unsecured debt being considered the worst ever. Meanwhile, the “net short” provision, designed to curb CDS investors, looks to have made it to the final documentation for the first time in a European deal.

German agency KfW revisited the Norwegian krone market yet again on Tuesday to place its 15th trade of the year in the currency. The deal brings KfW’s Nokkie issuance up to a record Nkr17bn ($1.9bn) for the year to date, according to Dealogic, Nkr250m more than its previous 2011 record.

Allergan shareholders have waved through its acquisition by rival drug company AbbVie, clearing a major hurdle on the way to billions of dollars of loans and an expected $30bn of bond issuance.

La Mondiale gave investors a rare chance to put money in restricted tier one (RT1) ranks this week. The bond was oversubscribed by more than 10 times but the insurance company paid a hefty premium to do the deal, according to one source away from it. However, one of the leads disagreed and said the bond was priced “probably inside fair value”.

Russia will issue renminbi government bonds by early 2020, said Russia deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev on Thursday at the Moscow Exchange Forum in London. The move is a bid to widen access for Russian corporates eyeing renminbi debt, while diversifying funding sources away from the dollar.

Mapletree Commercial Trust has raised S$458m ($335m) from a placement of new units, pricing the issue at the top of guidance after a strong turnout from new and existing investors.

Thailand’s S Hotels and Resorts is set to launch bookbuilding for its IPO next week and is looking to raise up to Bt7.9bn ($260m) from the deal.

Chinese real estate company Kaisa Group Holdings chose to go down the 144A route for its latest bond, raising $400m from a deal that hit the higher end of its size expectations. But bankers say it is unlikely many issuers will follow suit. Addison Gong reports.

Chinese central government-owned China National Travel Service Group Corp (CNTS) made a quick return to the dollar bond market this week, extending its maturity profile with a $600m dual-tranche transaction.

India's Vedanta, Syndicate Bank make loan comeback — Shanghai Sinnoil defaults on $400m loan — Fullerton allocates $250m among 17 banks — Lesso closes $1.1bn refi — Indorent holds non-deal roadshows

Citi has made Peter Babej, head of its financial institutions group, its new chief executive officer in Asia Pacific, looking outside the region for a replacement of former boss Francisco Aristeguieta.

Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) raised $600m on Wednesday from a combination of fixed and floating rate notes.