Goldman Sachs

Holders of the defaulted EA Partners bonds claim that Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi gave them implicit guarantees for the notes, which were issued to fund other troubled airlines. The bondholders, backed by restructuring advisers and corporate sleuths, are buckling up for a battle for their money. Karoliina Liimatainen reports.

The frenzy of investment grade corporate bond issuance in Europe intensified on Thursday, when eight companies came to market, issuing a total of €6.6bn of paper in euros. That brought the total for the first four days of this week to over €20bn. Despite the heavy supply, issuers have found sufficient demand to support their notes.

Emerging market issuers are moving to print in the bond markets as investors’ desperation for positive yield hits fever pitch. With some borrowers looking to refinance maturities falling due in 2020 and 2021, a pivot towards bonds from loans, and Gulf Cooperation Council sovereigns rumoured to be making moves, some bankers say this year could challenge the record for annual CEEMEA volume.

IHS, an African telecoms provider, is returning to the bond market to take advantage of excellent market conditions and refinance its outstanding 2021 bond.

Goldman Sachs has picked Marc Nachmann, co-head of the investment banking division, to jointly run its securities division in the US, following the retirement of Marty Chavez.

Salt, the Swiss telecommunications company controlled by a French billionaire Xavier Niel, is touring Europe this week marketing senior secured notes, as it attempts to refinance a large chunk of its existing debt.

BOC Aviation and Clifford Capital navigated choppy market conditions successfully on Tuesday to raise dollar bonds from investors.

WuXi AppTec took advantage of an incredible rally in its stock price and its rarity in the equity-linked market to raise $300m from a convertible bond that was a huge hit with investors. Rashmi Kumar reports.

Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Zhangzhou Jiulongjiang Group Co reopened the post-summer bond market with a $500m deal, making its debut in dollars.

ING sold a dollar-denominated additional tier one (AT1) this week, adding an influx of supply in the asset class in recent weeks. It will have the option to redeem its new bonds twice a year after the first call date, instead of the usual five years in all of its outstanding bonds.

Rabobank launched an additional tier one (AT1) bond with a record low coupon in the euro market this week. The Dutch bank started with price thoughts of 3.625%, but tightened by 40bp to smash through the previous record of 3.5%, set by Nordea in 2017.

Compared with last year, employees at BNP Paribas and Société Générale are more disapproving of their chief executives and less optimistic on the outlook for their firms over the next six months, according to analysis carried out by UBS.