Deutsche Bank

The buyout bonds for Merlin Entertainments and Kantar, backed by Blackstone and Bain, will set new standards for European issuers. If the investors strike down the "net short" clauses — as they did in an earlier Inmarsat deal — the sponsors may give up on the controversial strategy to battle hedge funds with large CDS positions.

German tyre manufacturer Continental rolled into the market on Wednesday, one week after it priced its debut floater in the MTN market last week. The manufacturer had enjoyed several years away from the capital markets, before returning in September with a series of public deals. Elsewhere, political events in Turkey have left lira issuance surrounded in “uncertainty.”

Lesser-known Italian financial institutions have moved to the front of the pipeline in the financial institutions bond market, as larger and more frequent funders begin slipping into blackout periods ahead of reporting third quarter earnings.

Dar Al-Arkan, a Saudi Arabia-based real estate developer, raised $600m on Wednesday with a February 2025 sukuk, defying market volatility to offer little in the way of new issue premium.

State-owned hydropower company China Three Gorges Corp made a rare visit to the dollar bond market, extending its maturity profile to 30 years.

Dar Al-Arkan, a real estate development company headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is in the market for a five year sukuk benchmark.

Greece and the Province of Québec won strong books in the euro public sector bond market on Tuesday, with the latter returning to the currency for the first time since June 2018. An attractive basis swap for dollar funders to issue in euros has tempted the International Development Association (IDA) out on screens for its first euro benchmark.

Public sector borrowers enjoyed healthy subscription levels and minimal new issue concessions in the five year part of the curve as they returned to the dollar bond market following the Golden Week break in China.

CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong conglomerate, took more than €10bn of orders on Tuesday for a six-tranche bond in euros and sterling as it opted not to squeeze the pricing as much as other recent deals.

The bond leg of the loan-dominated buyout packages for Kantar and Merlin hit the market on Monday, giving investors a chance to buy subordinated debt in size. But both Bain Capital, and Blackstone, the sponsors, have included controversial provisions to limit the rights of noteholders who are ‘net short’.

Three public sector borrowers announced dollar benchmarks on Monday, rekindling the market after a quiet week.

Investors gobbled up Adani Green Energy’s rare Indian project-linked bond on Thursday, seizing the opportunity to buy non-Chinese paper. The company’s transaction was also helped along by its new investment grade rating.