Barclays

The GlobalCapital editorial team has picked what it believes to be the standout bond issues of 2015 across the corporate, public sector, financial institution and emerging market bond markets. Below are the Corporate Deals of the Year 2015. We selected the trades that we think will be remembered for their success in challenging conditions, for making the best use of the demand available to them, or for having made a longer lasting impact, such as the re-opening of a market. The winners are presented here.

After an eventful year for European corporate bonds, HSBC has ousted BNP Paribas as top bookrunner for European issuers, though BNPP stays top for all corporate issues in euros.

HSBC and Barclays were the leading houses in SSAs by deal volume year to date in 2015 but overall volumes were down on 2014 and are expected to fall again next year.

Ares Management, the asset management firm, has purchased a £500m portfolio of performing UK middle-market financial sponsor-backed term loans from Barclays’ corporate banking division.

Finnish pulp and paper maker Stora Enso has tightened margins again on its €700m revolving credit facility, this time by 20bp, after having already reduced margins on the deal by 35bp two years ago.

Over €30bn of covered bond supply is expected from borrowers in Spain and Italy next year but with nearly €40bn of Cédulas redeeming, the technical backdrop is most constructive in Spain.

The covered bond market is likely to see more supply in 2016 than it did in 2015 even as the European Central Bank reduces covered bond purchases in favour of other asset classes, said analysts this week.

India's Azure Power Global is seeking approval to float on the New York Stock Exchange, having a filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

Amid the boardroom turmoil, strategic rethinks and headline grabbing megadeals, Europe’s most senior corporate financiers tell GlobalCapital’s David Rothnie why 2015 was a letdown and why 2016 will be better.

Wind turbine company Nordex signed €1.4bn in loans on Tuesday. The five bookrunners flexed to accommodate a planned acquisition, in what was intended to be a plain refinancing.

With plenty of cash to deploy following a large number of redemptions, sterling investors piled into what looks likely to be KfW’s last sterling offering of the year on Tuesday.

Syndication for a $145m loan backing the Blackstone Group’s acquisition of business process outsourcing assets in India is close to winding up.