Barclays

After many days in which bankers have wondered why more sellers were not bringing block trades to what are very strong equities markets, today a burst of deals hit the screens.

Heavy demand for Unitymedia's €785m bond issue on Tuesday turned it into a €1bn and $550m offer that still left some investors wanting more.

National Australia Bank has announced a 144A/Reg S deal hoping to print in what may be the only safe primary market format to sell bonds in for the remainder of the year.

Merck KGaA, the Darmstadt-based pharmaceutical company, has mandated banks for a hybrid bond issue, as part of the refinancing of loans for its $17bn (€13bn) acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, the US life sciences and high tech materials group.

Cinven has exited from two of its portfolio restaurant companies, Ask and Zizzi, in a £250m secondary buyout deal with Bridgepoint.

RPC, a plastic packaging manufacturer in the UK, has refinanced a revolving credit facility to £490m as it looks to buy Icelandic competitor Promens.

Telefónica, the Spanish broadband and mobile phone company, issued an €850m hybrid bond on Thursday. The perpetual non-call five year deal was priced just 3bp outside the issuer’s curve, according to one banker, a good omen for hybrids being roadshowed by Volvo and Santos.

Onex, the Canadian private equity firm, has acquired SIG Combibloc, the Swiss drinks carton maker, for €3.75bn and confirmed 10 banks that will arrange the leveraged buyout.

A supranational and an agency nipped in to print tightly priced taps of euro-denominated debt this week.

UK department store chain John Lewis issued a £300m 20 year bond comfortably on Thursday, getting double the volume of orders needed, despite not having a rating.

After months of spread tightening and an unremitting stream of successful deals, the positive mood in the primary covered bond market finally broke this week. Amid a weakening secondary market, OP Mortgage Bank only just managed to get a deal away and AIB Mortgage Bank became the only covered bond issuer to postpone a deal this year.

Big acquisition financing trades graced the dollar market ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday while Medtronic rounded off investor calls ahead of an anticipated $10bn M&A trade expected to come next week. All told, November has been the busiest month for US high grade supply — $87bn —since September 2013.