HSBC

A pair of seasoned green bond issuers brought deals in the format this week — but each opted to print in a currency in which it had not sold green bonds before.

German healthcare company Fresenius this week opted to issue a €500m no-grow seven year trade following a roadshow, a choice which rewarded it with an order book that was more than five times subscribed.

Toyota’s Australian finance arm ended a 14 year hiatus from issuing bonds in sterling this week when it sold the first sterling corporate bond of the second half of 2018. The breadth of the sterling investor community was evident in the order book, but the depth was not.

UK retailer J Sainsbury’s has signed a £3.5bn loan package to back its acquisition of Walmart-owned Asda, with the company raising more debt than the cash component of the deal despite analysts raising concerns about the borrower’s recent debt levels.

HSBC Germany has launched a digital platform for Schuldschein issuance called Synd-X, following in the footsteps of Helaba and LBBW. But unlike its German peers, it aims to preserve the role of banks as gatekeepers to the market.

Two Chinese companies, United Asia Finance and Greentown China Holdings, have received strong responses to their offshore borrowings, allowing them to increase the loan sizes.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia has launched its first ever 50 year benchmark, coming to market just as Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten landed at the short end.

Two corporate bond issuers from opposite ends of the ratings spectrum found similar success with new bonds on Wednesday. The seven and eight year tenors found favour with investors looking to put new cash inflows to work.

Beverage company Rémy Cointreau has signed a €100m syndicated loan, with a pricing structure that could see the margin on the debt plunge by more than 70% if certain conditions are met.

Property firm Greentown China Holdings has closed an $800m borrowing after attracting 17 lenders during syndication, according to a company filing.

A pair of supranational issuers are this week bringing new currencies to their green funding offerings.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia is set to bring its longest ever euro benchmark, as public sector borrowers line up trades across the currency’s curve.