HSBC

Saudi Arabia has had to scale back banks grappling to get on its $16bn loan, which will be used to refinance a $10bn loan taken out in 2016.

European levfin investors are optimistic as the market heads into the Easter break, with buyers enjoying better pricing and terms even as issuers prepare to launch a fresh bout of speculative grade paper over the next few weeks.

Europe’s corporate bond new issue market is distinctly subdued as Easter Week begins. Investors, issuers and banks alike feel the market could do with a gap to digest the very heavy issuance earlier this month. This week brought two liability management deals, one with a new issue.

John Laing Group, the UK infrastructure projects company, has closed its £210m ($295.74m) rights issue after the deal attracted substantial interest.

JD Sports, the UK casualwear company, is set to break into the US market by buying Finish Line for around $558m. The acquisition will be financed in the loan market.

Kuwait’s Burgan Bank has signed a $350m loan with a club of seven relationship banks to refinance borrowing done in 2015.

Beijing Jingneng Clean Energy has launched a $220m green loan into syndication, the first of its kind for the company.

HSBC’s two tranches of additional tier one (AT1) notes, with a combined size of $4bn, took the market’s attention this week, as Ibercaja Banco prepares for its own much smaller trade.

Russian gold miner Nordgold and coal company Siberian Coal Energy Co (Suek) signed syndicated loans in the week leading up to Vladimir Putin’s victory in the Russian general elections.

French supermarket group Carrefour returned to the equity-linked market on Thursday to sell a $500m equity-neutral convertible bond due in January 2024.

UK property company Hammerson has signed a new £1.5bn three year revolving credit facility, bringing in a dozen banks for a financing aimed at slashing the funding costs of its acquisition target, Intu.

Glencore, the Swiss-based mining and commodities group, issued a $500m seven year equity-neutral convertible bond on Tuesday that achieved terms described as very aggressive. It attracted around 100 investors, including a couple of sovereign wealth funds.