Barclays

The high grade corporate bond market burst into life on Monday, with mandates for a diverse range of trades from hybrids to sustainability-linked bonds hitting screens to take advantage of the unexpectedly positive November issuance window.

Boparan, the UK food production and restaurant business, began marketing a £475m high yield bond on Monday. The deal follows Aston Martin, Lowell and PureGym, three refinancings done in the past month for companies under stress as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese dairy products manufacturer Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co made its inaugural appearance in the offshore bond market on Thursday. Huaxin Cement Co also printed its first dollar deal.

Klépierre, the French shopping centre operator, and UPM–Kymmene, the Finnish paper company, were two of a handful of names to receive raucous receptions from the bond market this week. Issuers benefited as a wave of market-friendly news turned the focus in Europe’s high grade bond market back to a risk on mode.

A trio of rare issuers found a window for issuance in the FIG bond market on Thursday, with Nykredit and Hamburg Commercial Bank accessing a tightening senior non-preferred market, while Íslandsbanki launched Iceland's first ever sustainable bond

Toyota Motor Credit Corp, the Japanese car finance company, opened books for a £500m six year bond on Thursday, as syndicate bankers said next week’s new issue market would be busy.

Italy held a series of investor calls on Thursday in preparation for a trip to the dollar bond market. Italy returned to the currency last year after almost a decade away, and announced that it intends to access the market every year.

Market euphoria following news of Pfizer’s potential Covid vaccine created a perfect window for lead banks Barclays and Jefferies to sell out of a bridge loan for UK fitness chain PureGym, which they had held since underwriting it in January — one of the last pre-Covid acquisition loans yet to come to market.

Less frequent issuers found a window for issuance in the FIG bond market on Thursday, with Íslandsbanki launching Iceland's first ever sustainable bond and Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCB) focusing on non-preferred senior debt after twice delaying plans for a tier two.

The Kingdom of Sweden will come to market on Wednesday for a new 25 year Swedish krona benchmark, coming on the heels of a green bond from the City of Gothenburg.

Unédic, the French unemployment agency, will look to complete its €15bn funding programme on Thursday, coming to market in the footsteps of the EU’s second outing.

Redco Properties Group has tackled some of its upcoming maturities by selling a new $266m bond to refinance debt.