Citi

Two Chinese technology firms listing in the US have been hotly received by investors, with both well covered since their launches earlier in the week.

Aakash Educational Services is seeking approval to float for Rp12bn ($173.9m), filing a draft IPO prospectus with the country’s market regulator on Thursday.

Management at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley used second quarter earnings calls to reassure investors about their exposure to leveraged loans, under questioning from RBC Capital Markets’ Gerard Cassidy, as fears grow about leverage levels and weak covenants.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Concerns from some fund managers about the terms of Altice’s new €2.5bn-equivalent bond were swamped by orders from other investors eager to bag single-B paper with a big coupon from a core high yield issuer. After a series of successful investor push-backs on deal terms, the debt laden French telecom proved this week that borrowers still can walk away with loose covenants, writes Victor Jimenez.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AA+

Wall Street heavyweights returned in force to the dollar market with a string of multi-billion dollar trades after posting strong second quarter earnings.

FIG funding project after project has had to be postponed because of higher volatility levels in 2018, leading to a build-up in supply at the beginning of the summer break. With banks growing fearful of market overload, funding teams are thinking hard about whether August could be a window of opportunity after all. Tyler Davies reports.

The World Bank is keen to bring a euro benchmark this year, having been absent from that segment for nearly two years. The supranational this week made a triumphant return to dollars, setting a 2018 record for the tightest swap spread on a three year dollar benchmark so far.

The third week of July finally saw the summer lull kick in, with SSA issuance volumes at less than half of what was sold last week. But Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten still managed to snatch up a successful tap, and SSA bankers and issuers reckoned the market still bodes well for new issues.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) raised $600m with a green bond on Wednesday, offering no new issue premium to an investor base desperate for environmentally friendly assets.

Singapore’s Clifford Capital is marketing its debut collateralised loan obligation cash flow securitization, seeking $458m through a newly established special purpose company, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital. The trade is the first of its kind, marking the first fully project finance-backed CLO in Asia. Morgan Davis reports.