Crédit Agricole

Three eurozone sovereigns all extended their euro curves with huge order books for syndicated transactions this week in a sign of rampant investor appetite for long-dated debt.

Iliad, the unrated French telecoms company, attracted ample demand and twice increased the expected size of its bond during bookbuilding on Thursday, as syndicate bankers say the European corporate market is wide open to all types of issuer.

IDB Invest, the arm of the Inter-American Development Bank that lends to the private sector, matched its biggest ever deal size as it came to the market on Thursday for its debut sustainability bond.

Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina raised $1.9bn from a two-tranche deal on Wednesday.

Portugal was awash with demand as it came to the market on Wednesday for a new 30 year euro benchmark, following well-received syndicated deals from Belgium and Finland on Tuesday.

Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications company, showed the depth of demand for green hybrids on Wednesday, with a seven times oversubscribed trade that came a day after a similarly successful deal from compatriot issuer Iberdrola.

The Italian fashion house Tod’s has signed a €500m sustainability-linked loan, as environmentally conscious financing continues to infiltrate the infamously wasteful fashion industry.

The Hong Kong Mortgage Corp (HKMC) made a rare public appearance in the debt market this week with a dual-currency transaction worth $1.29bn-equivalent. Featuring a Hong Kong dollar portion and an offshore renminbi tranche, the deal helped the issuer get ‘competitive’ pricing levels, said bankers.

Portugal mandated banks on Tuesday to lead the sale of a new 30 year bond as it looks to pounce on the strong investor appetite in the long end of the euro curve.

Hyundai Capital Services used the green label on its dollar bond to its benefit when hitting the market on a relatively volatile day, managing to find about $4.75bn of demand for a $600m transaction.

The euro public sector bond market has got off to a busy start to February. Three eurozone sovereigns have announced syndicated issues, while the European Financial Stability Facility made a €2bn intraday tap on Monday to round off its first quarter funding target.

IDB Invest, the arm of the Inter-American Development Bank that lends to the private sector, is preparing to roll out a sustainable debt programme which could lead to it issuing all its future bonds in this format.