Citi

A handful of investment grade corporate borrowers are out with mandates on Monday, with market conditions improving for them after last week’s bonds have traded tighter despite pricing with small premiums.

New Development Bank will become the first issuer to hit the dollar market this week, announcing a five year benchmark, the proceeds of which will fund sustainable development activities and emergency support loans to its member countries.

Equate Petrochemical, the petrochemical producer part-owned by Kuwait, has laid plans to re-enter the international debt markets after less than a year since its last outing. The mandate comes just days after the IMF warned Kuwait to undergo fiscal consolidation after its economy shrank last year.

Citi is planning to hire around 2,300 people to support the expansion of its wealth management business in Asia Pacific, as the bank undertakes a restructuring that boosts focus on its four wealth centres.

Thai Beverage has postponed the multi-billion-dollar spin-off and listing of its brewery unit in Singapore, citing choppy markets and a surge in Covid-19 cases in Thailand.

China Construction Bank Corp turned to the bond market on Thursday to sell a $2.4bn equivalent multi-currency transaction, with each tranche carrying a socially responsible investment (SRI) label. But recent volatility in the region’s credit market, and the issuer’s own ‘ambiguous’ approach to the trade, posed challenges.

Public Storage wrapped up a quickfire acquisition financing in the US bond market this week, after supply slowed to a trickle as huge swathes of corporate America entered earnings blackouts.

US investment banks have set a high bar for their European rivals by posting record revenues powered by a boom in capital markets underwriting.

SGS, the Swiss corporate testing and verification company, came out aggressively for its debut Eurobond on Wednesday, and was rewarded with a spread flat to fair value.

Abraham Douek has left Citi after 11 years spent working on the bank's FIG debt capital markets desk.

Trans-Oil Group, a Moldova agriculture company, was in the market on Wednesday for a dollar bond. The issuer has a rocky history in debt markets, following a failed attempt at a debut bond in 2018.

Freeport Indonesia, a copper mining company, is in talks with banks for a new $750m loan for capital expenditure, after being forced to cancel a larger facility last year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.