JP Morgan

A trio of triple-B rated companies brought bond sales totalling €2.75bn on Thursday, as a primary market abuzz with official stimulus roared towards the year's close.

The Arab Republic of Egypt pulled in $14.5bn of demand for its $2bn triple tranche bond deal on Wednesday, in a trade that was priced well inside the sovereign's curve.

La Banque Postale has suggested that issuers of additional tier one (AT1) capital should drop the tradition of making large pricing steps in the euro market, after setting a very low coupon for its debut in the asset class this week.

Alibaba Group Holding has kicked off its up to $13.4bn Hong Kong IPO, set to be the largest listing on the bourse for nearly a decade. Bankers are confident the deal will be a success, but they are navigating challenging times in the city’s stock market, which plunged this week as violence during protests escalated. Jonathan Breen reports.

The Arab Republic of Egypt had clocked up more than $9bn of demand for its triple tranche bond trade by lunch time on Wednesday.

One Middle Eastern bank is in the market with a sukuk additional tier one note, while a second announced it will go on the road for its own AT1.

La Banque Postale shied away from hitting the bottom end of the guidance pricing range for its debut additional tier one (AT1) on Wednesday, after losing about half of its order book during the sales process.

Alibaba Group Holdings got the greenlight from Hong Kong's stock exchange for a listing that could be worth as much as $15bn. The deal looks set to receive strong anchor demand from Chinese investors.

Czech gaming company Sazka, with lottery operations around Europe, debuted in the euro market on Tuesday with €300m of senior unsecured notes, priced at 4.125%.

Oil major BP and motorbike maker Harley-Davidson both hit the euro bond market on Tuesday, in the wake of the European Central Bank’s far bigger than expected first week of corporate bond purchases.

RusHydro will return to the international bond market for roubles with a deal that will likely take 2019’s total issuance in the format above last year’s total.

Antonio Brina is joining JP Morgan from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead basic materials investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.