MUFG

New York seemed set to avoid Hurricane Florence but US investors whipped up a storm of their own as they poured cash into a succession of big ticket deals from blue-chip domestic and Yankee names.

Indonesian motorcycle financing firm Federal International Finance (FIF) has returned to the offshore loan market for a $200m borrowing.

Dutch grid operator Stedin and French utility Suez offered investors more of the same when they tapped into what has been strong demand for longer dated corporate bonds on the same day, but found that appetite is starting to wane.

Amadeus, the Spanish IT company that provides systems for the air travel industry, sold its fourth deal in as many consecutive years on Thursday. The new deal was its first multi-tranche offering and the eight year tranche was the longest the company had offered to date.

After a drought of new investment grade corporate bonds from the telecom sector, French operator Orange made it two in two days after Telefónica sold a seven year trade on Tuesday. Orange offered a 12 year tranche as well as another seven year offering, but had to leave something on the table to achieve a €2bn print.

Leo Paper Group, a Hong Kong-based printing services company, has signed a HK$350m ($45m) four year green term loan and revolving credit facility with seven banks, making it the first privately-held firm to complete such a transaction.

Dutch brewer Heineken took advantage of a quiet market on Monday’s US Labor Day holiday to print a €1.25bn dual tranche deal with new issue premiums some participants saw in single digits.

Two of the euro corporate bond market’s more frequent issuers helped fully reopen the market with a pair of dual-tranche deals immediately following the UK August bank holiday. The quality of the credits was one of the reasons the market was able to digest €6.65bn of supply on the day.

While Brexit negotiations continued and banks juggled their contingency plans for various outcomes, two UK corporate issuers successfully accessed the euro corporate bond market this week.

The corporate bond market started at a frantic pace on Tuesday with five deals pricing. But on Wednesday French tyre manufacturer Michelin found its patience was rewarded with a chance to dominate investors’ attention and it was able to build the largest order book for a 20 year euro tranche in 2018.

The corporate bond market started at a frantic pace on Tuesday with five deals pricing. But on Wednesday French tyre manufacturer Michelin found its patience was rewarded with a chance to dominate investors’ attention.

The autumn term has definitely begun in Europe’s corporate bond market. BMW and Daimler, which launched deals last week, may have been the scholarship swots who returned extra-early, but this week the whole sweaty gang of issuers is back en masse, and making plenty of noise.