Goldman Sachs

The senior unsecured market saw a spark of life despite the holiday shortened week, with €4.66bn equivalent getting away in two business days.

With rates at historic lows pushing euro investors towards long dated debt, Mexico seized the opportunity to make capital markets history this week with the common currency’s first sovereign century bond, writes Virginia Furness.

Pacific Basin Shipping raised $125m from a convertible bond on April 8, pricing the trade in the middle of guidance. A shadow bookbuild, a recent rally in the company’s stock, and the reluctance of the issuer to push investors too hard on terms ensured a successful outcome.

ABN Amro, a regular in the private placement market where it often sells shorter dated senior debt, took to the longer end of the spectrum with a euro denominated deal that brought in orders exceeding €2.25bn.

Dufry, the Swiss travel retail operator, has launched a term loan of up to €800m to finance its acquisition of World Duty Free. It will mainly be syndicated to relationship banks.

The Republic of Turkey priced its 11 year bond with a minimal new issue premium as the savvy borrower made the best of low supply in the dollar market.

Mexico made yet more capital markets history on Wednesday with the first ever euro denominated century bond for a sovereign issuer. But though some bankers claimed the deal came very cheap to comps, it came at a very low absolute cost for the maturity.

The block trade business has been hugely important to equity capital markets businesses so far in 2015, and at this stage UBS and Goldman Sachs are leading the race. But Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made a hefty effort to catch up.

United Mexican States is out with the first ever euro denominated century sovereign bond as it looks to complete its 100 year bond hat-trick.

Pacific Basin Shipping has opened books for a $125m convertible bond, just days after the Asia ex-Japan region saw its very first international equity-linked deal of the year.

Republic of Turkey is making its second appearance of the year in dollars and is out with an 11 year benchmark bond

Royal Dutch Shell’s £47bn takeover offer for BG Group may bypass the public equity capital market — at any rate, no public issue has been mentioned to finance the £13.1bn cash element of the purchase price. But Shell has raised its asset disposal target for 2016-18 to $30bn.