Crédit Agricole

Swedbank and SEB this week launched deals that attracted the largest order books and the widest distribution of any covered bonds issued this year, along with the smallest concessions.

Labeyrie Fine Foods, the French producer of smoked salmon and foie gras, on Wednesday sold a €80m tap of its 2021 secured notes to finance the acquisition of food producers Pére Olive and King Cuisine from Aqualande.

In a secretive deal that has only come to light now, NBAD signed $1bn of tightly priced one year loans with five close relationship banks at the end of last year. The lenders were Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Crédit Agricole, Citigroup, HSBC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Asia's green bond market welcomed the return of Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) this week. Despite volatility, the frequent issuer priced a green bond flat to its conventional debt and market participants expect more Korean issuers to follow suit, reports Narae Kim.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has mandated six banks for investor meetings starting February 8.

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) started building books for its second green bond on Tuesday, almost three years after selling its debut. That green bond was not only the borrower’s first, but Asia’s inaugural offering.

China Development Bank (CDB) reopened a dual-currency transaction on Wednesday, bagging a $2bn equivalent from the euro and dollar tap. With strong demand from onshore investors, the policy lender was able to cut cost while raising more than the size of the original bond.

A trio of agencies priced deals on Wednesday after a challenging Tuesday that was impacted by a combination of worrying data from China and low oil prices.

Public sector borrowers are hitting several parts of the euro curve, with dollar issuance all but dried up before the US Federal Reserve announces later on Wednesday the outcome of its Federal Open Markets Committee meeting.

A $975m refinancing for India’s Reliance Industries has opened for general syndication via 13 mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

B&B Hotels, France’s third largest budget hotels group, held bank meetings on Tuesday backing its €800m buyout by PAI Partners from the Carlyle Group and Montefiore Investment.

LGC, the UK life sciences company being bought by KKR, has tightened price guidance on its €350m euro term loan ‘B’ and accelerated its deadline.