Deutsche Bank

In a sign of warming relations between China and Germany, regulators in China gave Deutsche Bank the licence to underwrite corporate bonds in the interbank market. But the bank has its sights set on a bigger prize — the right to joint lead underwrite Panda bonds for corporate issuers.

The Nordic Investment Bank is set to bring a dollar benchmark in the five year part of the curve, a tenor that has come back into fashion for public sector borrowers — including from the European Investment Bank on Tuesday. That is despite most secondary flows coming in shorter maturities, according to SSA bankers.

German property company Aroundtown raised funding in a fifth different currency of 2018 on Wednesday, when it saw an opportunity to issue corporate bonds more cheaply in sterling than in euros.

In a sign of warming relations between China and Germany, Chinese authorities said they would let Deutsche Bank underwrite corporate bonds in the interbank market. The bank is hoping to grab two different types of underwriting licences, GlobalRMB has learned.

KfW on Monday priced a tap of its recent 15 year euro bond in line with guidance, doubling the overall deal size to €2bn.

The European Investment Bank is set to bring the first five year dollar benchmark from an SSA in nearly three weeks — and only the third since the first quarter — after mandating banks on Monday. The issuer will be joined by a triple tranche trade from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The corporate bond market started the week slowly with a pair of well rated German corporates selling two year floating rate notes on Monday. Both had just a sole lead manager.

A slew of deals hit screens in sterling this week, allowing SSA borrowers from three continents to pick up a combined £1.175bn ($1.55bn) in funding — including one borrower’s largest-ever deal in the currency.

Dutch residential property company Vesteda sold a €500m eight year bond on Tuesday to help refinance its acquisition of a Dutch property portfolio from Dutch financial services company NN Group.

German healthcare company Fresenius this week opted to issue a €500m no-grow seven year trade following a roadshow, a choice which rewarded it with an order book that was more than five times subscribed.

UK retailer J Sainsbury’s has signed a £3.5bn loan package to back its acquisition of Walmart-owned Asda, with the company raising more debt than the cash component of the deal despite analysts raising concerns about the borrower’s recent debt levels.

Banks have been hiring staff to help financial sponsors hunt jumbo take-private deals as opportunities dry up elsewhere, writes David Rothnie.