BNP Paribas

Tyco Electronics and Tyco International baffled bankers this week by announcing mandates for euro bonds within days of each other.

Smurfit Kappa Group, the Irish packaging group, priced a €250m 10 year high yield bond on Wednesday evening that found solid demand, after announcing higher earnings and revenue for 2014.

Investors flocked to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Luxembourg's three year floating rate note on February 5, having been enticed by a considerable new issue premium. While the $5bn order book was impressive, the transaction stands out more even more for being the first single tranche FRN out of Asia ex-Japan.

Tentative allocations are out for Indonesian oil and gas company Pertamina’s five year fundraising. The loan has been closed at a size of $1.747bn, with the dozen banks at the top that prefunded the money managing to sell down as per expectations, said bankers close to the transaction.

Two Indian state owned companies — Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Rural Electrification Corp — have managed to shave a collective 90bp off their latest fundraisings. The thinning in pricing comes as Indian assets remain in demand, with Japanese lenders focusing on the country as they try to contain lending to China.

Telecommunication tower operator Solusi Tunas Pratama (STP) is looking to tap the offshore market for the first time, opening books to a $300m bond on February 12.

UK oil company BP priced a €2.5bn bond on Wednesday, using a tried and tested eight and 12 year format, following the success of a €3.75bn deal by Norwegian rival Statoil on Tuesday. The deal was well received, getting €3bn of orders for each tranche.

Danish telecommunications company TDC has mandated banks for two possible bond deals, one senior and one hybrid, after its acquisition of Norway’s Get last year.

High yield investors grabbed bonds from lift component maker Wittur and Swiss telco Sunrise Communications on Tuesday, even after absorbing GTech’s €4.4bn-equivalent offer over the previous 24 hours.

Statoil, the Norwegian oil and gas company, issued €3.75bn of bonds today, after falling oil prices contributed to a 36% drop in the company’s third quarter earnings. It is the biggest euro investment grade bond issue this year - though both Altice and GTech have issued bigger high yield financings, with parts of the deals placed in dollars.

Survitec, the UK survival equipment provider, has opened books on a £250m-equivalent term loan backing its buyout by Onex.

The acquisition of Las Vegas-based International Gaming Technology by the Italian gambling technology company GTech took a step ahead on Tuesday as GTech raised €4.4bn in euros and dollars, in the second biggest European high yield deal so far this year.