Goldman Sachs

SEB offered investors a negative new issue premium with its preferred senior deal on Monday. With conditions consistently improving for European issuers, this deal has shown that the market is ripe for issuance in the format.

Chinese hotel company Huazhu Group has returned to the equity-linked market, raising $450m from a bond convertible into its American Depository Shares (ADS).

Chinese technology company Lenovo Group took advantage of improving sentiment and small new issue premiums on recent deals to reopen a dollar bond sold in April. It raised $350m from the tap on Thursday, but investor interest was quite muted.

A pair of investors in Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding sold a chunk of shares in the company on Wednesday, netting HK$1.56bn ($201.3m) from the trade.

China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) priced a $3bn bond through its curve on Wednesday after investors flocked to the triple-tranche transaction, leading to a peak book of $23bn.

The record-breaking pace of US corporate bond issuance shows no sign of abating as more than 20 issuers from across the ratings spectrum dashed out of earnings to issue this week, amid red-hot funding conditions.

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Nordea Bank and Erste Group Bank were marketing preferred senior bonds on Wednesday, finding demand in the seven year part of the curve following a flurry of five year deals earlier this week.

SBAB Bank found plenty of room to tighten the pricing on a new preferred senior deal in euros on Wednesday, after investors welcomed the trade’s green credentials.

GlaxoSmithKline, the UK pharmaceutical company, launched a three tranche bond issue on Monday. Its sterling curve was trading so flat that it started with the same spread on the long eight and 15 year tranches.

The European Investment Bank and the Region of Madrid stood out in the public sector bond market this week, with the former achieving its biggest ever order book for a euro benchmark.

The Republic of the Philippines printed one of its largest bonds on record this week at exceptionally tight levels, taking $2.35bn from a dual-tranche deal. The sovereign gave investors what they wanted: long tenors, attractive initial pricing levels and full clarity on the impact of Covid-19 on the country, writes Morgan Davis.