Citi

Italy and Belgium were the latest eurozone sovereigns to build their largest ever order books for syndicated bonds on Wednesday, with the former coming close to breaking the record demand from a eurozone issuer set by Spain on Tuesday.

A pair of Asian SSA issuers joined a busy dollar market on Wednesday, bringing three and 10 year deals. Demand for three year dollar paper is high, with two more issuers set to join the fray on Thursday.

The International Development Association has hired banks to lead its first sterling bond as it looks to make another step in its quest to develop a diversified funding programme.

Demand for senior trades from Commerzbank and Raiffeisen Bank International this week reflected a softness in secondary performance, as well as a slowdown in the primary market as European banks enter blackout season.

Emerging markets telecommunications firm Veon, formerly Vimpelcom, printed a $300m tap of its $700m 4% April 2025s on Wednesday from a book of more than $1bn and paying a new issue premium of only 5bp, according to a syndicate official on the tap.

Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi (TSKB) has released price guidance on the first benchmark Turkish bank bond since March last year. Books had reached over $2.2bn by midday and the market has been told to expect a $400m deal.

Indian companies Birla Carbon and Tata Steel have mandated banks for loans and both borrowers have signed up large groups of lenders at the top level.

Spain and Cyprus attracted strong demand for their syndicated bonds on Tuesday, with the former receiving the largest ever order book for a public sector euro benchmark. Italy and Belgium will add to the eurozone sovereign supply on Wednesday after mandating leads for new 30 and 10 year trades, respectively.

Prosus, the Dutch-based consumer internet company spun off by Naspers in September, has launched a $1.25bn 10 year bond, days after it failed to convince shareholders in takeaway delivery group Just Eat to sell it the company.

KfW and Canada both launched dollar benchmarks on Wednesday, bringing a pair of highly subscribed and tight deals. Following their success, two Asian SSA issuers prepare to join the busy dollar market.

Bahrain Mumtalakat, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, printed its $500m bond on Tuesday at 4.25% having tightened 62.5bp from initial guidance.

Prosus, the international internet business spun off by South Africa-headquartered Naspers in September, has released initial pricing guidance for a 10 year dollar benchmark at a level two analysts called attractive, given the company’s 31% stake in Chinese tech giant Tencent.