HSBC

Saudi Electricity Co sold $2.5bn of dollar sukuk late on Tuesday – its biggest ever offering – inside initial guidance.

Svenska Handelsbanken sold its debut Kangaroo bond on Wednesday morning, the first senior unsecured note in the format out of Scandinavia. Strong demand for the print could encourage deals from other Nordic issuers, according to bankers involved with the deal.

Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, which announced on April 1 that it had made an offer to acquire Wing Hang Bank, is set to fund the HK$38.4bn ($4.95bn) acquisition with a loan provided by three banks.

Mired in a sovereign debt court case, Argentina has not been well known for its ability to maintain good relationships with the capital markets in the past decade. But investors praised state-owned oil company YPF’s way of befriending investors after its third international bond in just over six months showed that its borrowing costs were plummeting.

Oil India is looking to issue its first bond in the dollar market as market conditions improve for Indian credits.

The first quarter for loans has ended on a high with Asia Pacific ex Japan volumes totalling $99.2bn, up by 19% year on year and also the highest volume since 2011. Much of this is though is thanks to activity in Hong Kong, where borrowers have captured a large slice of the pie.

Investors are sinking their teeth into subordinated FIG debt this week, with insurance company NN Group and BBVA both bringing in big books for their deals.

Sinopec Group Overseas Development has launched another jumbo bond into the dollar market, issuing up to five tranches, just six months after raising $2.75bn last October.

Maldives has once again hit bankers’ radars after private equity firm Blackstone sealed a $150m loan last week, refinancing the funds it took less than a year ago to buy stakes in two seaplane operators in the island nation.

Wal-Mart, the US hypermarket group, launched its second ever bond in euros today, raising €1.5bn. The deal showed that the euro market still has capacity for big drive-by transactions, despite the heavy issuance recently, culminating in last week’s all time record issuance of €18.5bn.

Slovenia drew almost €10bn of orders for a long three year and seven year euro bond issue on Tuesday, which catered to investors comfortable with duration and those more concerned about rates.

China Merchants Bank will be holding investor meetings as it considers a possible dim sum offering.