Goldman Sachs

The World Bank appointed banks on Tuesday to lead its first 10 year dollar benchmark in almost two years to join a flurry of SSAs who have recently ventured into this rarely visited part of the curve in the currency. Meanwhile, Finnvera has mandated banks for its second syndicated trade of the year.

Argenta Spaarbank and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group were both marketing senior bonds on Tuesday, making use of the favourable backdrop in the primary market. While Sumitomo was quick to build demand for its bond, Argenta struggled to gather enough demand volume to move the spread from price thoughts.

High grade corporate borrowers were quick out of the traps on Monday, cramming in before the blackout period to raise around €5bn-equivalent of bond funding from order books many multiples of that.

The euro SSA market kicked off this week with KfW targeting the long end and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) hitting screens for a 10 year euro green bond — its third syndicated bond in as many currencies in just a few days.

The six biggest US investment banks alongside three European firms have created DirectBooks to assist primary market bond sales. It aims to start in the US investment grade corporate market before branching out to other fixed income products.

Dutch chemicals company OCI is issuing almost $1.4bn of senior secured notes to repay outstanding debt, with a long term aim of simplifying its capital structure and deleveraging.

Enel, the Italian power and gas company that is the first, and only, issuer of bonds with sustainability-linked coupons, proved this week that the structure appeals to European green-minded investors, by raising €2.5bn at a spread several basis points tighter than it could have achieved with a normal bond. Jon Hay and Mike Turner report.

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Greece returned to the capital markets this week with its fourth syndicated bond of the year as it tapped its 10 year note at a record low yield. Meanwhile, Cyprus is set to go on a global roadshow to plan its funding for 2020.

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.

Deutsche Bahn, the German railways company, wrapped up a roadshow for a dual tranche hybrid on Thursday, with investors looking at a trio of other issuers from a variety of industries for comparable notes.

Sponsors that are bullish on the project finance market for solar assets in Texas have begun to explore contract structures that preserve more potential upside in their hedges while still providing comfort to lenders and tax equity investors.