Citi

A buoyant January in equities markets has been followed by a difficult start to February, with the first IPOs out of a full pipeline seeing some issues in marketing just as stock markets tumble across the globe.

A pair of dollar deals on Wednesday showcased what bankers felt was a theme during a week with a volatile market backdrop, as a top tier name tightened pricing and was comfortably oversubscribed, while a second tier issuer was able to get a deal away but could not move in from price thoughts.

Israel Electric revised pricing downwards on its 10.5 year bond issue on Wednesday as it looks to push out its curve.

India’s capital markets regulator has given ICICI Securities the greenlight to hold an IPO, which is expected to raise at least Rp30bn ($467m).

Three Asian debt issuers launched dollar bonds on Wednesday, taking advantage of a respite from the market turmoil that all but shut the debt market earlier this week.

Greece, which on Monday announced its intention to sell a seven year, kept away from markets because of wide swings in European govvie spreads — a decision lauded by bankers away from the transaction. Dimitris Tsakonas, head of funding at the Greece's Public Debt Management Agency, spoke to GlobalCapital.

Public sector borrowers are reaping the benefits of investors looking to “weather the storm” of wider market volatility, said bankers, as investors poured cash into short dated dollar issues this week. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Sweden are set to be the next issuers to benefit, after mandating for three year trades on Tuesday.

A pair of euro borrowers braved a tricky market on Tuesday, raising a combined €4bn despite heavy weather in government spreads. One opted for a defensive pricing strategy, while the other attempted to squeeze investors.

Citi’s has named a recent hire from HSBC as its new EMEA head of high yield trading, three months after the dealer joined the firm. It follows recent new hires of two salesmen for Citi’s high yield team.

Digi Communications’ Hungarian subsidiary has refinanced part of a €200m bridge loan provided by Citigroup and ING in October last year, which was used to fund the acquisition of a subsidiary of fellow Hungarian communications company Invitel.

A group of Vincom Retail employees sold a block of the company’s shares on Monday, raising D4.51tr ($198.1m) after they bumped up the size of the offer, according to a source close to the deal.

SMBC Aviation Capital has swooped into the Asian loan market for a $600m two tranche borrowing.