JP Morgan

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Eni saw chunky demand for the first Italian corporate bond sold since the coronavirus pandemic hit markets in March, but it had to pay up over its curve compered to oil industry peers from outside Italy.

Five public sector borrowers are marketing dollar bonds across the curve kicking off what it is expected to be a busy week in the currency.

Rubis Terminal looks set to make the first European high yield debut since the coronavirus crisis hit, announcing a new €410m issue to fund a minority investment by I Squared Capital. Business has boomed at the company, which operates bulk liquid storage, thanks to the collapsing oil price.

The Republic of Serbia hit euro markets on Monday as it worked to stack up funding for its fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus, selling a seven year bond.

Eni, the oil and gas company, became the first Italian corporate to open books on a syndicated bond since the coronavirus pandemic sent markets went haywire in March, as syndicate bankers say issuance levels will ramp up sharply in the coming days.

Chinese hotel company Huazhu Group has returned to the equity-linked market, raising $450m from a bond convertible into its American Depository Shares (ADS).

Chinese company Kingsoft Cloud Holdings has raised $510m after boosting the size of its Nasdaq float.

Despite a crash in dollar swap spreads as the US Treasury announced a record borrowing binge this week, SSA bankers remain bullish on supply, with KfW rumoured to be plotting a return to dollars after leaning heavily on euros for its benchmark funding this year.

The merger of the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, O2, with cable company Virgin Media, agreed on Thursday, will generate a £6bn financing need which the parties want to complete before the deal closes, expected to be in 2021 — and later on, it could lead to an IPO, say sources close to the deal.

The Kingdom of Bahrain moved emerging markets’ bond recovery beyond top tier issuers on Thursday as it printed a $2bn dual tranche dollar trade that raked in $11bn of demand.

Rentenbank jumped into a quiet Kangaroo market on Thursday to print its first Australian dollar bond since August 2019.