Goldman Sachs

The state of Israel returned to the yen market for the first time in 18 years this week to raise ¥15bn ($140m) of seven year debt. The private placement marks the state’s third visit to the capital markets in 2019 and its first non-euro trade of the year.

Pfizer has agreed to spin off its off-patent drug business Upjohn and merge it with generic drug company Mylan, in an all-share deal that will still see $12bn of debt raised.

GEMS Education came to the market on Tuesday with a pair of seven year senior secured bonds. The issues form part of a larger debt package being raised to support private equity firm CVC Capital Partners purchase a minority stake in the Dubai-headquartered education provider.

Sino-Ocean Group Holding, a Chinese investment company that focuses on the property market, took advantage of the positive backdrop on Monday to seal a $600m bond.

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.