Citi

Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical company, this week priced the largest European corporate bond deal of 2018 — an €8bn six-tranche deal. The company used only European banks as global co-ordinators for the sale, as the euro market proved that it is a viable market for jumbo financings.

Spanish telecoms company Telefonica announced the sale of new hybrid issues this week while also tendering for several of its outstanding hybrids. After more than a month since the last benchmark euro hybrid issue, investors contributed to an order book exceeding €4.5bn.

The day after a jumbo corporate bond issue is often a quiet one for new issuance as investors digest their allocations and assess the impact on secondary spreads. But after Sanofi's €8bn offering on Wednesday, Thursday was another bumper day.

Brazilian mining giant Vale is continuing its liability management efforts, with a tender offer for up to $1.75bn of two bonds maturing in 2021 and 2022, having already decided to exercise its right to redeem all of its 2020s.

Goldman Sachs was offering investors a large new issue premium in exchange for 10 year euro funding on Thursday, as trading levels suffered under the weight of recent primary market supply.

Emirates Airlines has set the yield for its benchmark sukuk at a level representing a negative new issue premium, according to a banker on the deal.

Indonesian coal company Toba Bara Sejahtra failed to make its debut in the dollar bond market this week, after a weak market backdrop and concerns about high yield credits dented investor appetite. But other firms looking for funding are not giving up just yet, writes Morgan Davis.

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire was already hitting milestones with its new dual tranche euro trade on Thursday. Its 30 year offering is both the longest ever euro bond from sub-Saharan Africa, and looks set to be one of the highest yielding euro-denominated bonds from any sovereign in recent years.

Citigroup and Svenska Handelsbanken were both offering senior bonds in euros on Wednesday, as bankers started to question whether the primary market could continue to support large volumes of new issuance.

Dubai-based developer Majid Al Futtaim printed its third hybrid bond on Tuesday, a $400m perpetual non-call eight year. In the absence of a strong Asian bid, real money European investors anchored the book.

Spanish telecoms company Telefonica has announced the sale of its latest hybrid new issues while also tendering for several of its outstanding hybrids. After over a month since the last benchmark euro hybrid issue, investors contributed to a large order book.

After a reasonable wait, investors are starting to see the more frequent investment grade corporate bond issuers return to the market. On Tuesday, French materials company Saint-Gobain and French telecoms operator Orange sold benchmark deals and UK media company WPP sold a dual-tranche issue.