Currencies

Japanese issuers are tapping the international bond market in droves, pushing volumes to a record in 2017. The market is set to get a further boost this year, as more corporations enter the fray. Rashmi Kumar reports.

A solitary syndication from KfW broke the otherwise placid waters of the public sector debt market on Wednesday.

A syndicate of 17 banks was mandated to help French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco raise €3bn with four tranches of senior bonds this week. The deal came two weeks after the company sold €2bn of hybrid bonds and completes the funding for its takeover of Australian shopping centre operator Westfield.

German car company Daimler raced from one side of the Atlantic to the other this week to raise €6.7 equivalent from 10 tranches of bonds with tenors from two to 10 years.

Ever since European Central Bank president Mario Draghi announced corporate bonds were to be included in the central bank’s quantitative easing programme, there has been a cacophony of dissenting voices debating the rights and wrongs of the policy. Yet no one seems to be talking about the biggest concern as the end of QE nears: the valuation of bonds the policy has affected.

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) sold 5.5 year Swiss franc bonds on Thursday, its first issue in the market for two years. With international supply falling in the last few years, Swiss investors leapt at the opportunity to buy investment grade Latin American credit.

On Thursday, German car manufacturer Daimler made its second visit to the corporate bond market with a €2.25bn dual tranche offering. This followed a $4bn seven tranche issue on Monday.

India’s Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched the biggest Samurai loan from an Asian company into general syndication, as it looks to leverage on Japanese onshore liquidity.

China’s Kingboard Chemical Holdings has returned to the offshore loan market for a HK$6bn ($764m) borrowing, less than six months after signing its last syndicated transaction.

A solitary syndication from KfW broke the otherwise placid waters of the public sector debt market on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, a syndicate of 17 banks was mandated to help French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco raise €3bn with four tranches of senior bonds. The deal came two weeks after the company sold €2bn of hybrid bonds.

Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce returned to the European corporate bond markets on Wednesday after a break of nearly five years. The British company sold a €1.1bn dual tranche deal which extended its maturity profile in euros.