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KKR, the US private equity group, has sold a $1bn mandatory convertible bond to fund its acquisition of life insurer Global Atlantic Financial Group, which it announced last month.

The coronavirus crisis is a further reminder that fundamentals are not the only thing that matters when investing in bank capital.

Institutional investors in private placements (PPs) have signalled their appetite for borrowers beyond their typical stables throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But this week’s transaction from Vanguard Group — the largest in the market’s history — showed the size of funding available, as buyers demand bigger deals. Silas Brown reports.

Alibaba Health Information Technology navigated concerns around its lofty valuations to pull off Hong Kong’s largest primary follow-on in five years, raising HK$10bn ($1.29bn) after boosting the size of the deal. The transaction closed with a bulging book, showing that demand for the healthcare sector is yet to peak. Jonathan Breen reports.

The US Department of Labour (DoL) has proposed what it characterises as a reiteration of what has always been required of retirement fiduciaries — that they act in the best interest of their beneficiaries — urging them to disregard ESG considerations in investment decisions. In doing so, it appears not to have noticed the last decade in financial markets, which has shown that ESG investing is very much in investors’ interests.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Li Auto sealed a scorching $1.1bn Nasdaq IPO this week, pricing above the marketed range to make it the largest US listing by a Chinese company in nearly two years. The deal proved there is still interest among mainland firms to list in the US, despite rising hostilities between the two countries, writes Jonathan Breen.

The National Football League, the professional American football league in the US, has sold $1.7bn of private placements, according to market sources, to help steer the organisation through the coronavirus.

Surging redemptions and aggressive buying by the ECB — which is also offering issuers a cheaper funding alternative — mean a reduced supply outlook for the covered bond market and, therefore, ever tighter spreads. But higher yielding, safer alternative investments are on the horizon, meaning the asset class may soon lose its allure.

A burst of additional tier one (AT1) supply this week showed that financial institutions will be keen to take advantage of every funding window available this summer, despite having made substantial progress on their annual issuance plans.

Ant Group is planning a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai that will value the company at as much as $200bn. Bankers say the mega listing will be a ‘shot of adrenaline’ for the two stock exchanges, creating a surge of liquidity that will enable more companies to follow suit. Jonathan Breen reports.

After striking a remarkably swift restructuring deal with creditors, Ecuador’s government deserves praise. But it is unrealistic to expect such smooth discussions elsewhere, as emerging market sovereign defaults inevitably rise.

BBVA has become the first bank to print a green additional tier one (AT1) deal. When it was issued this week, it proved that the demand for socially responsible investments (SRI) extends to the riskiest of asset classes, meaning other banks are certain to bring out their own versions of the trade, writes David Freitas.