Banks

In the nervous last day before the European Central Bank's much-hyped monetary policy announcement on Thursday, only two corporate bond issuers brought deals. Both Orange, the French telecoms group, and Worldline, the French payments group carved out of Atos.

Nissan has sold upwards of $600m US private placements in the first US PP deal for any Japanese car company, according to several people familiar with the situation.

The Asian Development Bank joined the syndicated sterling issuance run started by the European Investment Bank earlier this week, pricing a £300m tap of its March 2024 Sonia-linked note on Wednesday. The World Bank looks set to follow with a fixed rate tap on Thursday that bankers feel could give a good indication of the market’s appetite for the format amid volatility.

JP Morgan this week issued a €400m cash-settled exchangeable on LVMH, the French luxury goods conglomerate, in its latest synthetic outing, raising cheap funding while possibly hedging a derivatives transaction.

Deutsche Bank has announced a round of senior appointments in its primary debt businesses, naming Hoby Buvat head of EMEA leveraged finance origination and Mark Lewellen head of EMEA debt capital markets origination.

IHS, the Nigerian telecom towers group, hit screens on Wednesday for a dual tranche bond. It received strong demand and the leads were able to tighten the spread and add an extra $300m to the longer tranche.

The Asian Development Bank hopped on to screens on Tuesday to print a new 10.5 year green Kangaroo bond. Demand for longer dated Kangaroo bonds has been muted recently, leading to smaller transaction sizes. So introducing a green label helped the ADB feel “comfortable” with achieving its minimum issuance size, said Anthony Ruschpler, treasury specialist at the ADB in Manila.

Bank of Montreal was marketing a senior preferred bond in sterling on Tuesday, one day after Rothesay Life gave FIG investors a chance to put their money in tier two in the same currency. The Canadian issuer started its trade with a 15bp-20bp concession, according to a banker off the deal.

Armenia is the latest EM borrower to take advantage of rock bottom rates with a tender offer and new bond. The sovereign will tender a 2020 bond, financing the operation with a new Eurobond.

Investment grade corporate bond issuance has slowed right down on Wednesday, as issuers and investors are getting cautious before the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

FWD Group has come to the market with yet another unusual transaction, raising $600m but seeing the bond open a whole point lower in the secondary market on Wednesday morning.

Investors chased South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix’s $500m bonds both in the primary and secondary markets, even though the borrower pulled off one of the largest price reductions on a deal from the country.