Citi

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia found plenty of demand as it came to the market with a new 30 year benchmark on Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank’s first monetary policy meeting of the year.

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, the Belgian investment holding company, found a warm response from the bond market on Thursday, despite the potential distractions of a European Central Bank meeting being held on the same day.

Investors have enthusiastically backed a €4.6bn financing package for Ineos Quattro, funding the integration of BP’s aromatics and acetyls business into the chemicals conglomerate. Strong demand allowed the company to raise more secured debt than expected, cutting funding costs, and strip out a bank-targeted term loan ‘A’ in favour of a bigger, cheaper, institutional term loan ‘B’.

Top US bankers are optimistic about their investment banking businesses for the start of 2021, after a stellar 2020 during which their clients rushed to financing markets to help them get through the Covid-19 crisis, and government and central banks provided essential support.

Chinese vape company RLX Technology raised $1.4bn from its US listing this week, pricing the deal above the marketed range after a huge turnout from investors.

SK Battery America sold a $1bn green bond this week, overcoming hurdles involving concerns about recent downgrades, and a legal battle with a competitor. Morgan Davis reports.

Government-owned Korea Southern Power Co marketed a green bond to dollar buyers on Wednesday, netting $450m from the trade.

Indonesia Infrastructure Finance raised $150m from its maiden sustainability bond on Wednesday that proved popular among investors looking to get their hands on the rare southeast Asian credit.

CPPIB Capital hit screens on Wednesday for a 10 year benchmark, confident that there is demand at that tenor despite a recent rush of similar deals.

Deals are lining up in Europe’s high grade corporate bond market and bankers say even Thursday's European Central Bank meeting will not put a dent in primary demand on the day.

Tesco, the UK grocer, made a storming debut in the sustainability-linked bond market on Wednesday, encouraging bankers who already expect corporate issuance using the novel structure to rocket this year.

Higher rates and execution certainty in the dollar bond market have given investors something to get excited about, with supply from financials in the currency outstripping that in euros so far this year.