BMO Capital Markets

US chicken processor Pilgrim’s Pride Corp plans to fund its £1bn buyout of UK peer Moy Park with cash in hand, an extension of its term loans, and a new debt issue to repay a JBS subordinated note.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Public sector issuers navigated a choppy start to the week to print strong dollar trades, but some SSA bankers worry that the problems that brought that early volatility are far from resolved.

Kommunalbanken made what bankers away from the trade described as an “excellent” choice of tenor with a dollar benchmark on Wednesday as it tightened pricing from guidance — something that not every issuer has been able to achieve in the currency over the last two weeks. Meanwhile, a Japanese issuer mandated for a trade that bankers expect to go well despite geopolitical tensions in Asia.

Kommunalbanken will bring a dollar benchmark in a defensive tenor on Wednesday, which a banker on the deal said is the perfect product for investors amid rising geopolitical tensions. The trade also offers an attractive spread over US Treasuries, the banker added, despite a tightening in swap spreads — although other bankers said that tightening meant larger issuers should consider longer dated deals.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank on Thursday became the latest issuer to tap into a hot summer market for dollars, increasing a tap from its initial size while printing flat to its curve.

Public sector issuers are taking advantage of strong summer conditions in the dollar market to bring green and arbitrage-style deals, with more issuance expected next week.

The dollar market is grinding on throughout the summer, with public sector borrowers pushing out deals at the short end, although none have been in benchmark size this week. Two issuers launched transactions on Tuesday with a third slated to follow on Wednesday.

Two European agencies are set to launch dollar transactions on Tuesday, defying any talk of a summer slowdown to take advantage of supportive conditions.

A pair of three year prints in dollars provoked very different reactions from GC BondMarker voters in the second quarter. Read on to find out more in this week’s BondMarker round-up, which looks at the most notable dollar deals of the last quarter.

The Province of Alberta on Wednesday passed its first bond market test since suffering a double downgrade from S&P in May. Bankers away from the trade said it was a “good outcome”, despite having to pay a bit of concession — unlike most other dollar deals over the last few weeks.

A surfeit of sterling liquidity drove demand for covered bonds to new heights this week with exceptional deal executions seen in two Canadian bank transactions, raising the likelihood that a UK bank will soon follow.