BNP Paribas

CNH Industrial, the US-Italian agricultural and construction machinery maker, cruised through the bond market on Tuesday, as bond bankers puzzled over whether the Thanksgiving holiday in the US on Thursday means this will be a short week for issuance.

CEEMEA sovereign borrowers extended their last minute funding spree this week with Romania joining Ivory Coast in the primary bond market.

Stora Enso, the Finnish paper company, and Belgian utility Fluvius mandated banks to lead green bonds of 10 years or more on Monday, combining two recent themes in corporate bonds — ESG issuance and longer maturities.

Carmila, the French shopping centre owner, rode the positive sentiment generated by news of another promising Covid-19 vaccine on Monday to launch a sub-benchmark bond. Bankers expect such opportunistic, small scale deals to dominate corporate issuance for the rest of the year.

The Republic of Serbia this week raised a dollar bond in its second offering of the year, in what has been an exceptionally busy year for central and eastern European sovereign issuers.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank and Kommuninvest will both take to the dollar market this week, sneaking in ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays.

The Ivory Coast has sparked life into what has been a bleak year for sub-Saharan African bond issuance. Most sovereigns have turned to the official sector to support them throughout the coronavirus crisis as a result of being priced out of the international debt capital markets, bankers said.

Sweden’s EQT, the private equity company, has followed up on its summer signing of the biggest ever ESG-linked subscription facility with a second deal of the same maximum size. Lenders say this is further proof that ESG is becoming more important to private equity.

Vietnam’s Masan Group Corp has signed a $200m loan with four banks to support a capital injection into a subsidiary.

French companies Schneider Electric and LafargeHolcim pushed the fledgling sustainability-linked bond asset class to new levels this week, helping quell vocal concerns from some investors that having an unspecified use of proceeds means the structure has no place in ESG portfolios, write Mike Turner and Aidan Gregory.

Belgian insurer Ageas sold its first deal in almost a year this week, with the spread on offer helping to drive demand to more than three times covered.

UK aerospace company Rolls-Royce managed a smooth landing for its mid-pandemic equity raise despite turbulence within its inner circle of advisers. It was a triumph for strong management, writes David Rothnie.