Barclays

Merck, the US pharmaceutical company, launched a chunky €1bn hybrid on Wednesday, as syndicate bankers said they expect even more subordinated corporate debt despite the flurry since returning from the summer break.

Glencore, the UK commodity trading company, captured the corporate bond market’s attention on Wednesday with the first test of demand for a cyclical credit since the summer break. Investors jumped at the deal, with leads launching it flat to the borrower’s curve.

Banco de Sabadell on Wednesday looked to replicate the success of Mediobanca earlier this week in capitalising on appetite for green bonds. Appetite for the Spanish lender’s inaugural green preferred senior bond led it to print the deal through fair value.

Virgin Money UK tested the strength of the sterling market this week by looking to raise tier two debt. The UK lender was able to tighten pricing by 50bp and print inside fair value, and the new trade accompanied a tender offer of the issuer’s old securities.

Germany received overwhelming support for its debut green bond on Wednesday, which was sold via syndication and twinned with a conventional Bund of the same maturity and coupon in what it is a brand new structure for issuing green debt.

Finsbury, the communications consultancy, has hired Justin Shinebourne, former head of equity advisory for Europe at Barclays.

All eyes in the primary euro public sector bond market are fixed on the expected arrival of Germany's green Bund this week, but there were still some other deals announced on Tuesday. Greece is sticking to its plan for a syndicated bond issuance every quarter and Berlin hopes to match the success of its compatriot Land NRW in the 30 year part of the curve.

Sweden’s long gestating green bond debut came to fruition this week as the sovereign scooped Skr20bn ($2.3bn) at a discount to its conventional curve.

Following a trailblazing issuance from Abu Dhabi last week, the Emirate of Dubai has mandated banks to arrange a dual tranche offering, including a sukuk — its first international DCM outing since 2014. Qatar’s Ahli Bank was also in the market on Tuesday, launching a benchmark dollar bond.

Following a series of investor calls, Sweden has announced the tenor of its debut green bond, which is expected to be issued early next week through syndication.

A $600m loan to support Baring Private Equity Asia’s take-private of Indian software firm Hexaware Technologies has been launched into general syndication, with three banks joining at the top level.

Companies piled into the bond market with hybrid capital issues this week to raise €4.95bn between them, as syndicate bankers say that they are encouraging as many borrowers as possible to consider pushing out higher risk trades before raising senior debt.