Morgan Stanley

The prospect of a far-right leader becoming president of France rocked government bond markets this week. It led to a rare pulled French agency deal and will cause the country’s banks problems with their own huge funding needs. But as other issuers in eurozone countries facing elections showed, the picture of the risks ahead is complicated. Craig McGlashan reports.

The dollar high grade market slowed to a subdued pace this week following the bonanza of the previous one as corporates with funding needs lined up their documentation after reporting earnings.

The Asian Development Bank on Thursday hit new heights in benchmark issuance, as it sold its largest ever single tranche deal in a week that has been marked by tricky conditions.

Singapore Telecommunications is working with DBS, Morgan Stanley and UBS to lead the $2bn IPO of its broadband unit NetLink Trust.

Most of Asia's equity capital markets were still waking up from the post-holiday slumber this week but bankers in India were on their toes, with IPO activity in the country continuing apace.

Indonesian real estate developer Pakuwon Jati fed off investors’ desperation for paper, pricing a tight $250m seven non call four on Wednesday on a book more than four times subscribed.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten showed that investors in its dollar bonds are not overly concerned about an upcoming Dutch general election, as it priced a bond on Wednesday that was just $250m short of its record size in the currency. More public sector dollar supply is set for Thursday, after Asian Development Bank hired banks for a five year global benchmark.

Detsky Mir, the Russian toy retailer, this week priced its Rb18.4bn ($311m) Moscow IPO, the first IPO of significant size to be completed this year in EMEA.

The IPO market in EMEA is enjoying mixed fortunes, with the successful completion of the largest flotation in Russia since 2014 and the withdrawal of the first German IPO of the year late on Tuesday due to a lack of demand at an acceptable price.

Indonesia’s Pakuwon Jati was back in the international market on Wednesday after a nearly three year hiatus, looking to grab enough funds to redeem its existing 2019s.

The Indian government has offloaded 2% of its stake in ITC, the country’s largest cigarette maker, raising Rp67bn ($995.2m) and coming closer to its divestment target for the financial year, according to a banker on the deal.

Peruvian mortgage lender Fondo Mivivienda on Tuesday found a high level of appetite for local currency paper with a $600m-equivalent dual tranche deal of which three quarters was in Nuevo soles.