Morgan Stanley

The European high yield market this week saw towering deals like SoftBank’s $4.5bn and Synlab’s €1.1bn, but investors also found a place in their portfolios for smaller notes.

J Sainsbury, the UK supermarket chain, raised £500m of hybrid capital on Thursday with twin issues of a convertible bond and a regular hybrid bond.

Austrian insurer Uniqa Group proved that subordinated debt is back on the table on Monday, paving the way for Ibercaja to print a tier two.

In what was hailed as a momentous, perhaps record breaking, week in high yield finance, Japanese telecoms operator SoftBank took the crown by raising the year’s biggest Asian offshore high yield deal, writes Victor Jimenez.

Synlab, the German laboratory services provider, is being acquired by private equity firm Cinven. The deal will be partly funded with €1.08bn of high yield debt which was priced on Thursday.

Thai Union Frozen Products Public Company opened books for a Bt12.72bn ($371m) preferential public offering on July 20, following non-deal roadshows that brought positive feedback from the investor community.

China Railway Signal & Communications Corp (CRSC) started investor education for its $2bn Hong Kong IPO on Monday, July 20, becoming the first issuer brave enough to proceed with its equity-raising plans following the mainland stock market’s dramatic collapse earlier this month.

Thames Water (Kemble) Finance Plc, the subordinated holding company vehicle of the Thames Water group, issued a £175m bullet bond on Tuesday, joining the dense flow of deals in a high yield market relieved of the eurozone’s recent tensions.

China Construction Bank (CCB) Financial Leasing Corp successfully issued its debut dollar bond on July 21. The $500m deal was multiple times covered as high quality investors competed to get their hands on the strong name in a rare sector that offered attractive pricing.

Zhuhai Huafa Group is preparing to make its second foray into the offshore bond market, with investor meetings expected to kick off on July 23 for a renminbi offering.

A rare Greek IPO was announced on Tuesday, as Poseidon Containers, based in Athens, set out to raise about $230m by floating in New York, to finance purchases of container ships.

The European Stability Mechanism comfortably raised the €2bn it needed from a tap issue on Tuesday — but there were doubts as to whether it has reopened the euro market for SSAs.