Barclays

Regal Rexnord unleased the first jumbo M&A financing of the year as corporates front-loaded supply ahead of the US inflation report

Primary activity from SSAs has slowed towards the end of the week

Issuer hopes to issue more at the long end of its curve throughout 2023

Sovereigns build bumper order books as Portugal dares to go longer than peers

Higher yields attracting investors despite uncertainty, said Austria bookrunner

Twenty year tranche draws the most orders

UK lender dominated Wednesday's bond supply in UK currency

Public sector issuers from across the spectrum brought deals in a variety of currencies

US insurer pays a premium, but unearths tasty double digit arbitrage

SSA issuers raised $273.4bn in ESG bonds this year

As the world came out of the coronavirus pandemic, bond market conditions in 2022 did the opposite of what was expected of them and sharply deteriorated. Rising inflation, in part a result of the war in Ukraine, supply bottlenecks and fast tightening central banks all hurt banks’ abilities to access stable funding in international markets. Accessing unsecured primary financing, even senior debt, was no mean feat as new issue premiums moved higher for most of the year on top of skyrocketing spreads. Refinancing subordinated bonds at economic levels was far more challenging amid extreme volatility that brought back memories of the 2008 global financial crisis. Four bellwether deals are recognised this year for their market-leading achievements and successful execution that empowered the rest of the FIG market in Europe. They not only re-opened market access to a broader issuer base but also gave much needed confidence boost to battered investors. By Atanas Dinov and Frank Jackman.

Sponsor-backed duo exploit window for high yield and leveraged loans