Morgan Stanley

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).

Silicon Valley’s deal boom is noteworthy because in many cases, investment banks aren’t involved, writes David Rothnie. Staying relevant in this sector runs against the short term cost control mantra prevalent in banking today.

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.

Brazilian low cost airline GOL has mandated five banks to arrange a new bond in conjunction with the tender offer for its 7.5% 2017s, 9.25% 2020s and 10.75% 2023s.

Fixed income investors were more than happy to see the return of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ on September 2, tabling more than $14bn of orders for the $4.5bn five tranche offering. The blowout transaction was the second of the year for BTMU, replicating a structure that worked out well for it six months ago.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) is back in the market with its second mammoth multi-tranche offering of the year.

Emirates NBD has announced a roadshow for a perpetual tier one bond. But the bond will not be structured with the aim of being Basel III complaint, which sparked debate among bankers on and off the deal.

E-commerce firm Alibaba Group, which was expected to open books for a jumbo IPO on September 2, has decided to push back bookbuilding by a week. This is bad news for other issuers sitting on the sidelines as they will have to wait slightly longer before they go ahead with their own listings.

Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital sold a HK$4.095bn ($528m) stake in CSPC Pharmaceutical Group on August 28 by pricing at the bottom of guidance in what was its fourth stake reduction in the company in 16 months.

Mergers and acquisitions are set to be an important driver of corporate bond issuance this autumn. Deal mandates are already building up — in fact, M&A is the driver for virtually all the deals that have yet appeared in Europe’s corporate bond pipeline this season.

The Republic of Turkey has mandated four banks and scheduled investor meetings for next week with a view to selling a Samurai bond. The market is on the verge of a record year, with Samurai issuance already almost level with the full year 2013.