Morgan Stanley

Corporate borrowers dashed to print as investment grade spreads maintained their record levels ahead of a sell-off in US Treasuries, as speculation grew that US president Donald Trump would appoint a policy hawk to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chief.

After a stream of successful repricings in the leveraged loan market this week, French call centre operator Webhelp is set to refinance its term loans for the second time this year and could shave a further 25bp off its financing costs, according to sources.

Industrial & Financial Systems (IFS) closed the loan funding for its acquisition of WorkWave without further syndication on Wednesday, evidence the market is still keen on small size offerings amid a raft of large deals.

The European high yield bond pipeline this week brought €1bn of single-B rated offerings in euros and sterling from new issuers, giving hope to those working for a bigger borrower base for the market.

China Grand Automotive Services Co redeemed itself in the offshore bond market on Tuesday, grabbing $400m from a much smoother deal than its December debut.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) sold a $2bn deal on Tuesday that looked almost identical to the issuer’s January trade.

China Literature’s IPO in Hong Kong, set to raise up to HK$8.3bn ($1.1bn), has been hotly received by investors. Books were well oversubscribed with no price sensitivity at the range given, said a banker at one of the leads.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms company, issued its €7.3bn senior secured bond deal on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, and priced all four tranches at the tight end of guidance.

Shares in Bawag, the Austrian banking group, closed below their offer price on Wednesday after the company priced its €1.68bn IPO at €48 a share, near the bottom of the initial €47 to €52 range.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) hit the offshore market yet again on Tuesday with a dual tranche dollar bond, a month after the South Korean issuer sold a Singapore dollar deal and a Formosa bond.

Has Europe’s corporate bond market ever been hotter than today? Perhaps, but Monday’s four investment grade deals totalling €7.4bn offered ample evidence of extraordinary demand — not least, what is believed to be the most tightly priced corporate hybrid capital issue ever, for Danone.

One of the biggest IPOs in London this year was revealed on Monday when Arqiva, the UK’s largest operator of TV and radio broadcast towers, launched an IPO with a projected valuation of about £5.5bn.