Goldman Sachs

The £4bn take-private of UK aerospace and defence company Cobham by US private equity firm Advent, backed by a £2.5bn debt package, was threatened this week when business secretary Andrea Leadsom ordered an investigation into the deal just after 93% of the shareholders voted to accept the deal.

The investment grade bond market was noticeably cooler on Wednesday morning, compared to the €7.4bn and €5.4bn issued on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Though calling it quiet would be a disservice, with Wednesday’s issuers looking to borrow €2.5bn. Meanwhile, a bond deal for a fertiliser mine in Yorkshire disappeared down a black hole.

No less than three dual tranche corporate bond deals hit the market on Tuesday, as BMW, Abertis, and AbbVie jostled for the attention of investors with €2bn, €1.5bn and €1.4bn deals.

A brace of dollar deals came to the market on Tuesday, with Rentenbank and Council of Europe squeezing into the market for $1bn apiece amid high expectations of an impending rate cut as the US Federal Reserve meets.

Russian petrochemicals firm Sibur was able to print $500m of five year paper in its return to the bond market this week, brushing off news of a drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure and a subsequent 10% jump in the oil price.

French telecommunications company Altice France added another €1bn to its bond package, taking advantage of the historically issuer-friendly market conditions. The tranches were finalised after the European Central Bank announced a new round of stimulus, pushing down bond yields across the board.

KfW and Bpifrance were the first public sector borrowers out of the blocks in euros following last Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting in which it unleashed its new comprehensive stimulus package.

Banco Sabadell and ASB Finance launched senior bonds in the euro market on Monday, with the former hitting the ‘sweet spot’ of investor appetite and the latter struggling to achieve the same level of demand as its Kiwi peer ANZ New Zealand had last week.

The blow to oil production in the Middle East seems to have boosted demand for Russian petrochemical giant Sibur's five year dollar benchmark on Monday — the issuer’s first bond in two years.

UniCredit has become the first Italian bank to launch a new deal since a new government took office in the country. The €1.25bn tier two attracted €3bn of orders and was tightened more than expected, according to one of the leads.

Chinese logistics company Best has sealed a $175m convertible bond, benefitting from a jumbo anchor order from Alibaba Group Holding.

Ireland has extended its curve out to 2119 by placing its second century bond, three years after it sold its first in the tenor. Century and ultra-long dated bonds have seen a resurgence of interest this year as issuers look to lock in low interest rates at long dated maturities.