JP Morgan

Deutsche Bahn, the German railways company, wrapped up a roadshow for a dual tranche hybrid on Thursday, with investors looking at a trio of other issuers from a variety of industries for comparable notes.

Kernel, a Ukrainian agricultural producer, hit the market on Thursday with a five year non-call three year. In spite of fears around Ukraine’s future relationship with the IMF, the leads have set initial price thoughts at a level onlookers are calling “aggressive”.

State-owned hydropower company China Three Gorges Corp made a rare visit to the dollar bond market, extending its maturity profile to 30 years.

Health and Happiness International Holdings and Shui On Land have both made swift returns to the loan market for tightly priced deals.

Bank of China broke new ground for Asia this week with the region’s first floating rate bond linked to the secured overnight financing rate (Sofr). But a host of challenges around payment calculations and liquidity mean other issuers will be slower to embrace this new benchmark. Addison Gong reports.

Two supranationals are on screens for ESG firsts. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced its first green transition bond, while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is preparing its first foray into the green bond market in sterling, capitalising on strong appetite from UK pension funds.

Italy delighted investors with its first dollar bond in almost a decade on Wednesday, as it raised $7bn across three tranches. However, bankers away from the deal said the sovereign paid up over its domestic cost of funding — something it had originally planned to avoid.

The International Development Association (IDA) priced its debut euro benchmark around 5bp wider than its sister issuer, the World Bank, according to the leads.

Enel, the Italian electricity and gas company, held investor calls today for its first trial of its new sustainability-linked bond structure in euros, likely to be launched tomorrow. The deal has a more complex structure than the $1.5bn bond with which Enel introduced this technique to the bond market for the first time in early September, in that it contains tranches with different triggers.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is preparing its first benchmark of the fourth quarter and Ireland has picked the banks to lead the first tap of its sovereign green bond.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB Noe Wien) found the euro primary market to be quiet but bullish this week, allowing it to launch a new senior unsecured bond at what lead managers saw as a fair pricing level.

Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel’s efforts this year to deleverage were capped with the issuance of a subordinated perpetual $750m bond on Tuesday. The deal, alongside further stake sales planned for the rest of 2019, puts the company on track for a more stable debt profile. Morgan Davis reports.