JP Morgan

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp pocketed $3.96bn this week from a record top-up placement and concurrent convertible bond issue. Investors flocked to the transaction for its rarity value, investment grade rating and the offer of a liquid and volatile stock. Jonathan Breen reports.

Chinese state-owned electricity company China Huaneng Group Co sold two tranches of perpetual bonds on Wednesday, raising $1bn.

Opportunistic corporate issuers had a strong day of it on Wednesday in Europe's bond market, increasing deal sizes and enjoying bulging order books as investors turned positive on the outlook for the market.

Turkey's largest city, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, hit markets on Wednesday, seeking to raise dollars in a rare debt-raise. The deal is one of three major bonds from Turkish issuers in the last week.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp has raised $3.96bn from a concurrent top-up placement and convertible bond issue.

Kommunalbanken, the financing agency for Norwegian municipalities, and L–Bank, the development bank for the State of Baden–Württemberg, built well covered order books as they brought what will likely be the SSA market’s final dollar benchmark deals of 2020.

BP, the UK oil major, and car rental company Sixt have hired banks for new bonds as the end of year issuance window looks set to stretch into next month.

Kommunalbanken and L-Bank will each bring a dollar benchmark to the market on Tuesday, in what could be the final public SSA deals in the currency this year.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey’s largest city, and VakifBank have both mandated banks to arrange dollar bond syndications. The trades come just days after the sovereign squeezed into the market before the US Thanksgiving holiday to raise a tightly priced dollar bond.

CPI Property, the Frankfurt listed property owner, has signed a new €700m revolving credit facility, bumping up the size of its main bank line as lenders say liquidity is still a focus for corporates.

Sub-benchmark deals are not so much of a novelty anymore: a trio of rare names filled their boots with diminutive deals this week, with each attracting bumper demand.

The European Union impressed once again this week as it sold the third and final bond of the year under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme.