JP Morgan

Nordic Investment Bank is preparing a three year dollar benchmark, following a KfW five year deal that had to brave a backdrop of negative swap spreads.

Investors have only been offered a tap of a Bahrain bond in the CEEMEA primary market this week so far, but it has been far from quiet as other events and people moves in EM caught the eye.

KfW hit screens with a five year dollar benchmark on Tuesday that is offering the issuer’s widest swap spread at the tenor in several years, which bankers away from the mandate attributed to negative swap spreads and market-wide volatility last week.

Rocket Internet, the German start-up incubator, has said it will spend up to €150m this year to buy back some of the €550m convertible bond it issued only last July.

By the second day of Saipem’s auction of its unsold rights, all of them had been sold to investors — but with the share price still 3.3% below the subscription price at Thursday's close, the underwriters may yet have to buy up to €427m of stock.

Saipem's share price rose 13.7% on Monday morning, bringing some relief to bookrunners on the firm’s rights issue, which are facing up to€427m of exposure to its shares. By the end of the day, however, the stock was up just 1.4%.

After LeasePlan postponed its €1.55bn bond last week, US software producer Solera Holdings stands alone in the European high yield market as it roadshows a $2bn acquisition bond. But some bankers said that it will be hard for the Texan issuer to draw any lessons from LeasePlan's pain.

Carnival Corporation, the US cruise ship operator, returned to the euro bond market for the second time in under four months with a €500m five year deal on Monday.

Countryside Properties traded up 4.4% in London on Friday, after completing an initial public offering that valued it at just over £1bn. Bookrunners said its business regenerating public sector land was what won investors over.

Saipem, the Italian oil and gas engineering group, announced late on Thursday evening an 87.8% take-up for its €3.5bn rights issue, leaving the underwriters potentially on the hook for up to €427m. In a concerning sign, the shares were suspended on Friday after falling 11%, though they have recovered to 6% down.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is set to break new ground in Asia with an inaugural offering of bonds that meet total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements.

Public sector borrowers and bankers alike applauded Carl Norrey’s contribution to the SSA business after hearing this week of his upcoming retirement. Some also expressed concern about the impact the loss of such a high profile figure could have on the market.