Citi

Dollar demand for sovereign, supranational and agency names made its first signs of slowing this week, as one benchmark fell short of full subscription and other deals, while still oversubscribed, showed signs of demand being less exuberant than in the first weeks after the summer break.

Burgan Bank

Acquisitions announced on Monday by Siemens, Merck and Arkema marked the continuation of a wave of European investment grade acquisitions, with varied outcomes for syndicated loan financing.

Kazakhstan is meeting investors for what looks set to be its long awaited return to the market. The sovereign has not issued a bond since 2000 and its comeback has been eagerly anticipated.

John Stamler, a director-level analyst of high yield and distressed debt at Citigroup, is leaving the bank for BlackRock.

After slipping in the first two days of this week, Alibaba Group’s shares rebounded on Wednesday to close at $90.57 per share. While this is up 3.9% on the previous day, it is still 2% lower than where the Chinese e-commerce company's stock opened on its debut on the New York Stock Exchange last week to become the largest IPO in the US.

India’s equity-linked market finally came back to life this week after a two year hiatus, with engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) selling a $200m convertible bond. While the transaction signals a reopening of the country’s equity-linkers, it has come under fire for its aggressive pricing, which could act as a barrier to future issuance, writes Rashmi Kumar.

A Basel III landmark was notched up this week as Bank of Communications (BoCom) became the first Chinese bank to issue without the use of an overseas entity. But despite the pioneering nature of the tier two deal, the market’s focus remains firmly on upcoming additional tier one (AT1) issuance, with some investors staying clear of BoCom in preparation for the higher yielding deals, writes Rev Hui.

Kazakhstan is meeting investors for what looks set to be its long awaited return to the market. The sovereign has not issued a bond since 2000 and its comeback has been eagerly anticipated.

A Japanese lender has joined the eleven leads on Tata Steel’s multi-currency jumbo fundraising and three to four more banks are expected to come in before the loan goes into general.

Synthos SA made a strong debut on Wednesday with a seven year non-call four debut offering. Rarity of supply from both the sector and from Poland buoyed investor support for the deal which offered a decent yield compared to where quasi-sovereigns are trading.

Zhejiang Provincial Energy (ZPE) sold the first dollar bond from a provincial level Chinese state owned enterprise on Tuesday. Buoyed by ZPE’s credit strength and Zhejiang province’s strong fiscal position, the three year issue was a hit among investors and sets a solid foundation for the emergence of similar credits in the dollar market, writes Isabella Zhong.