Citi

Belgian brewer Anheuser Busch InBev has taken the first step toward floating its Asia Pacific operations on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

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European corporate bond investors showed they were hungry for paper on Thursday, despite the gloom infecting equity markets this week about the prospect of a restart to the China-US trade war. A flurry of issuers came to the market, hot from roadshows, and got plenty of over-subscription while slashing their spreads by 20bp to 30bp.

Gold Fields, a South Africa-headquartered mining company, sold its $1bn dual tranche bond on Wednesday at a spread that looked historically tight to comparable issuer, AngloGold. It attracted $3bn of orders despite national elections on the same day.

Two African borrowers are set to hit the road for dollar bonds, extending a run of deals from the continent after a slow start to the year.

The strength of corporate bond demand, after falls in stockmarkets engendered by the US's hardened stance on trade talks with China, will be tested in the US on Wednesday by a $20bn issue for IBM. In Europe, the test could come on Thursday, since a handful of issuers finished roadshows on Wednesday.

The European Investment Bank enjoyed stellar demand for a $3bn five year deal on Wednesday, with lack of competing supply encouraging investors to turn out in droves, despite the skinny premium on offer.

Woori Bank turned to Taiwan this week for its latest dollar transaction, raising $450m from the first sustainability-labelled Formosa deal.

After a couple of slow weeks for corporate bond issuance in Europe, the pace quickened somewhat on Tuesday, with two €500m no-grow issues. One was from a familiar name - Carrefour, the French supermarket chain - the other from a new one, Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden, a Swedish residential property company founded only in 2016.

The European Investment Bank is out with initial price thoughts on a $3bn 2024 bond, offering investors a premium to its bigger five year deal in January.

The UK Debt Management Office has chosen the tenor for the first syndication of its 2019/20 financial year, which is expected to come in the week commencing May 13.

Occidental Petroleum has successfully wooed Anadarko, the Texas-based shale oil and gas company, with a new offer to buy it, including a larger portion of cash. Anadarko has ditched the deal it already had in place to sell itself to rival bidder Chevron.