Goldman Sachs

The Republic of Austria received huge investor demand for its five year euro benchmark on Wednesday, despite the bond being priced with a yield below the European Central Bank’s deposit rate. The sovereign also took advantage of the rally in eurozone government bond yields to tap its outstanding century bond for a further €1bn.

Travelodge is planning to dip into the sterling market to refinance all its bonds, issuing up to £440m in senior secured floating rate notes. It would take advantage of a window for UK issuance before the likely resumption of political worries in the autumn as the Brexit deadline approaches.

Investors poured into Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD)’s 10 year euro benchmark on Tuesday, allowing the French agency to issue its largest ever trade in the currency.

Rentenbank failed to achieve subscription for its €500m 10 year trade on Tuesday, despite offering a positive yield and a maturity that has been labelled the ‘sweet spot’ in the euro public sector bond market.

The Republic of Austria hired banks on Tuesday for a five year syndicated bond while seeking investor feedback for a 100 year issue as it looks to lock-in super cheap funding following the recent rally in eurozone government bond yields.

Hong Kong-listed Luye Pharma Group sealed a convertible bond on Monday night, raising $300m from the increased deal.

Agence Francaise de Développement was the only public sector borrower to mandate banks for a new benchmark bond on Monday, as squeezed yields cause issuers to hold off from the primary market.

Issuance in Swedish kronor picked up this week, with three corporate issuers placing Skr6.28bn ($667.9m) across four private placements, as issuers looked to get in ahead of the midsummer break. In euros, a Dutch and French agency both placed paper, while protests in Hong Kong caused yields to spike in offshore Chinese renminbi and Hong Kong dollars.

Chinese video-based social media platform YY pocketed $850m from a well-timed dual-tranche convertible bond. The deal — launched after repeated indications of interest in US-listed stocks — landed on a burst of risk appetite that followed US president Donald Trump’s tweet confirming his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 gathering in Japan next week. Jonathan Breen reports.

Mexican lender Banorte became the latest Latin American borrower to clinch new debt with exceedingly tight pricing on Thursday, as bond investors showed their hunger stretched beyond top-rated paper.

Nasdaq-listed Chinese social media platform YY hit the market with an $850m dual-tranche convertible bond on Wednesday.

Investors hoovered up two German hybrid capital issues on Tuesday, in a receptive market spurred on by dovish comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi. They were of very different stripes: a €1.5bn dual tranche issue from Merck, the pharmaceutical company, which was about 7.5 times covered, and a £400m issue from Aroundtown, the property company.