Goldman Sachs

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.

Rating: Aa2/AA

Argenta Spaarbank, Belfius Bank and Jyske Bank took differing approaches to sell €500m no-grow senior bonds this week — Argenta offered a substantial new issue premium, while the latter pair pushed their pricing close to fair value.

Unédic returned for another social benchmark on Thursday, adding to the slew of successful French agency SRI-themed paper.

A pair of infrequent issuers, Belfius Bank and Jyske Bank, tapped a strong market on Thursday with a pair of senior deals. The conducive environment is expected to wane as banks enter blackout periods, and prospective deals will have to vie with volatility around the US presidential election.

Chinese peer-to-peer lender Lufax Holding filed IPO paperwork in the US on Wednesday for what is expected to be a jumbo listing.

Chinese property company Agile Group Holdings raised $300m from its Wednesday bond sale, but found less investor support than excepted.

Private equity firms Bain Capital, Advent International and Clessidra have completed a huge sell-down of stock in Nexi, days after the Italian payments company unveiled plans for a €4.6bn merger with Sia, a close rival.