Goldman Sachs

Cobham, a UK aerospace and defence supplier, could soon change owners as private equity firm Advent plans to finance its £4bn acquisition with £2.517bn equivalent of interim loans. The latest public-to-private buyout is on shaky ground, jolted by a looming bidding war, possible regulatory intervention and reluctant shareholders.

The World Bank placed its first Hong Kong dollar deal of its 2019/2020 funding year last week. The supranational chose to link the private placement to the Hibor benchmark, a now little seen structure that was likely the result of a "very specific enquiry", according to one MTN banker away from the deal.

Investors poured orders into the only new issue on Friday, despite a softer backdrop in the corporate bond market. Repsol, a Spanish energy company, was more than six times subscribed for its €750m eight year note.

Private equity firm Blackstone has mandated four banks to support its acquisition of India’s Essel Propack (EPL), a specialty packaging company.

Mexico responded to the lower rates environment on Tuesday with an opportunistic $3.56bn liability management exercise, shrugging off any credit worries to issue at a very slim concession.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Banco Santander tapped the sterling market for senior bonds this week and what bankers said were high-quality orders led both issuers to increase the size of the benchmark transactions.

Bank of Montreal offered dollar investors a very rare chance to buy Canadian additional tier one paper this week, having spied an opening for a tightly priced deal.

The Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame is attempting to charm high yield investors with a €775m bond — but left lead Goldman Sachs is also pitching the issue to emerging market-focused accounts, highlighting the company's extensive business in Asia and Turkey. The founding family of the firm will use the bond to refinance bridge facilities which funded their buyout of the company earlier this year.

Investors in a rare block in Hugo Boss, the German fashion house, sold by Xinglee International Development on Tuesday night, have made strong profits in trading.

Mexico showed that even trickier credit stories could take advantage of the borrower-friendly rates environment, surprising many with a $3bn liability management exercise just two weeks after finance minister Carlos Urzúa resigned.

Vivion, a property company formed in September 2018 and controlled by Israeli tycoon Amir Dayan, is preparing its bond market debut. The funds raised will be used to split the business into a property company (propco) and an operating company (opco), pay off acquisition debt for recently purchased hotels, and reorganise its corporate structure.

An acquisition of British pub giant Ei Group by its smaller competitor Stonegate is about to trigger a clause that allows Ei Group to redeem £1bn of its senior secured bonds at par. Secured bondholders will likely have to swallow a pint of bitter if the sponsor behind the deal does not budge.