Goldman Sachs

Enel, the Italian energy company, printed the first sustainability-linked bond in sterling this week well through its curve, sparking expectations of far wider issuance in the still fledgling market.

Chinese discount retailer Miniso Group Holding raised $608m from a successful US listing on Thursday, after pricing the deal above the marketed range.

Four bond issuers from Greater China followed the Chinese ministry of finance into the dollar market on Wednesday, snapping up $1.4bn between them.

China raised a combined $6bn from a four tranche transaction on Wednesday, turning to US investors for the first time despite rising tensions between the two countries. It appeared a smart move, helping the bonds price well inside fair value. Morgan Davis reports.

The Republic of Austria picked banks to lead a new 20 year euro benchmark on Wednesday, while the European Stability Mechanism surprised some market participants by sounding out banks for a deal next week, which could clash with the EU’s grand arrival as a supersized issuer.

Morphosys, the German biotech company, has tapped the equity-linked market with a new €325m convertible bond, adding to the flood of issuance from the sector during the pandemic.

Enel, the Italian energy company, proved that there is sterling demand for sustainability-linked bonds on Tuesday, with the borrower repeating its achievement in dollars and euros by creating the market in the currency.

KfW and Ville de Paris grabbed the attention of investors at the opposite ends of the euro curve on Tuesday in what has been a thin week for issuance in the currency by public sector borrowers ahead of the expected arrival of the EU’s first syndicated bond under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme next week.

Enel, the Italian power and gas company, is set to push the nascent sustainability-linked bond market to a new currency this week after the company mandated for the first deal in the format in sterling.

KfW mandated banks for a seven year euro benchmark on Monday, a deal which was already expected to arrive this week and could well be the German agency’s final public deal in the currency this year.

Tesco, the UK grocer, has refinanced its sterling facility with a £2.5bn sustainability-linked deal that uses risk-free rates as a benchmark, as companies try to get to grips with the end of Libor.

Companies continued to find willing buyers in the US bond market this week, even as equity markets seesawed over the prospects of further economic stimulus.