Citi

Companies were able to tighten pricing on euro deals this week, as investors said they expected the corporate market to keep shrugging off the political headline risks in Europe that have prompted widening in some government bonds.

Asia DCM has seen a steady supply of South Korean issuers so far in 2017, with Korea Development Bank becoming the latest to venture out with dollar-denominated bonds.

Investors piled into a €1bn dual tranche transaction from telecoms company Ericsson on Monday even after the issuer dragged pricing in by around 35bp, in an execution that bankers say highlights how tough it has become for syndicates to derive fair value.

Confusion over two loans to Kenya, one of which was arranged by multilateral lender Trade and Development Bank (TDB), may have subsided as clarity over the structure of the deals emerged this week.

India’s market regulator has given the go ahead to IRB InvIT Fund’s IPO, making it the first infrastructure investment trust in the country to win approval to list. But IndiGrid and Reliance Infrastructure are hot on its heels.

Allocations are out for a dual currency financing to back Indian company Intas Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of a portfolio of assets in the UK and Ireland.

Guarantor: Japan

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) made a rare appearance in three year dollars this week, opening the way for its peers to follow. But there is little in the dollar pipe from Japanese or any other SSA issuers — all of which are well funded — after a week when US rate expectations were jolted by comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.

Europe’s IPO market — sluggish, so far this year — is beginning to warm up, with the announcement of a smattering of new deals this week.

Citi has turned around more than anyone thought possible in the past eight years. It's now one of very few banks with genuine global investment banking ambitions and abilities. But 2017 is critical for the bank to demonstrate it belongs with the best, writes David Rothnie.

Oman’s sovereign wealth fund is in the market for a $600m loan to support its acquisition of a stake in Oman Telecommunications, and is tapping Asian liquidity for the first time. With several Gulf nations making efforts to contain budget deficits, including by selling assets, borrowers from the region could be ones to watch. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco) attracted more than $1.4bn of orders for a new 10 year dollar deal after tightening pricing to 4.75% area.