JP Morgan

Mobile phone maker Xiaomi launched its $1bn dual tranche loan into general on Tuesday afternoon, following a successful senior phase during which 17 banks joined for the bookrunner and mandated lead arranger title.

Wednesday would have been the busiest day for European corporate bond issuance since the August break, even without Sanofi’s €3bn stormer.

Volvo, the Swedish lorry and bus maker, has been full of surprises in the past three weeks. Its issuance of the first euro corporate bond of the season was notable enough, then it popped back a week later with another — with BMW the only other entrant in the market.

Europe’s corporate bond market burst into full scale action today, after two weeks of sporadic new issuance. A €3bn deal from Sanofi, the French pharmaceuticals company, was joined by €1bn from Toyota Motor Credit Corp, €500m from property company Foncière des Régions and yet another small deal from Volvo (see separate story).

JPMorgan has hired from Morgan Stanley in financial institutions debt capital markets, shortly after moving three senior members off the team.

Ukraine has mandated three US banks and one European firm to arrange its next Eurobond, which is expected to be the country's first standalone international bond since the start of the Crimea crisis.

Bookrunners on Korea Development Bank (KDB)’s most recent bond have been scathing about the borrower’s approach to pricing and deal execution. And the complaints look to have a strong basis with the trade selling off aggressively in secondary market trading.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has mandated five banks to arrange a series of fixed income meetings that is scheduled to kick off from September 8.

Whether it is because investors have full faith in the eurozone periphery recovery story, are desperate for yield or a bit of both, there was little doubt this week that sovereigns in the region will be able to extend their average maturities in the coming months.

Oman Oil Co, a state-owned investment arm of the sultanate, has signed a $1.85bn unsecured financing with banks, according to two loans bankers.

Bankers adopted a more tactical strategy for Korea Development Bank’s new 5.5 year, choosing to announce the deal in the Asian afternoon on September 2 in a bid to focus more on US investors. However, demand has not lived up to expectations in the face of competing market supply and tight Korean credit spreads.

Deutsche Bahn returned to the floating rate note market on Monday with a €300m eight year deal, an even longer tenor than the six year FRN it issued in July. That was itself the longest dated syndicated corporate floater since February 2012. Bankers are divided on the wisdom of such deals.