JP Morgan

A US pension fund has filed a class action lawsuit against ZTO Express and the banks that underwrote its $1.4bn IPO on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Kroger and Alimentation Couche-Tard led a flurry of issuance by dollar borrowers to exploit red hot demand for high grade paper. With the bulk of corporate America in earnings blackout, the retailers demonstrated the strength of investor sentiment.

BAML and Citi’s M&A and advisory businesses shone this quarter, thanks to sustained investments in moving up the investment banking table, and to a series of chunky deals where both firms have been prominent. Goldman and Morgan Stanley, still the top two banks in the market, saw advisory revenues flatline in the second quarter.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and Citi’s M&A and advisory businesses shone this quarter, thanks to sustained investments in moving up the investment banking table, and to a series of chunky deals where both firms have been prominent. Goldman and Morgan Stanley, still the top two banks in the market, saw advisory revenues flatline in the second quarter.

Investors jumped at the chance to buy rare longer dated investment grade African risk on Thursday enabling Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) to raise $850m with a 10 year benchmark on Thursday.

For months investors have been complaining about how far pricing moves from initial price thoughts to guidance and again in final pricing in the corporate bond market. On Wednesday, Vodafone responded with a new approach to marketing. The response, however, was not what those involved expected, writes Nigel Owen.

The Sfr2.3bn IPO of Landis & Gyr, the Swiss maker of energy meters, has been priced above the middle of its initial range at Sfr78, valuing the business at 10 times its 2018 forecast Ebitda.

A pair of three year prints in dollars provoked very different reactions from GC BondMarker voters in the second quarter. Read on to find out more in this week’s BondMarker round-up, which looks at the most notable dollar deals of the last quarter.

Banque Ouest Africaine de Developpement (BOAD) offered investors a rare chance to buy longer dated investment grade African risk with a new 10 year benchmark on Thursday.

Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional has pocketed MR571.2m ($133.3m) after selling a small piece of CIMB Group. A competitive bidding process for the mandate meant wall-crossing investors beforehand was impossible, leading to a slow but steady bookbuild.

Vodafone was the star issuer of last summer, printing jumbo deals which served to kick-start the sterling corporate bond market, which is still going strong. On Wednesday however, they opted for more conservative volumes, printing before the summer shutdown begins. The UK telecoms company also adopted a novel approach to pricing.

KfW printed a €1bn tap of a July 2022 line on Wednesday, sneaking in a deal ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.