NatWest Markets

Corporate bond issuers made full use of the last few days before the European Central Bank's much-anticipated announcement on monetary policy on Thursday. Despite the hectic activity of the past two weeks, investors were still oversubscribing deals two or three times.

The frenzy of investment grade corporate bond issuance in Europe intensified on Thursday, when eight companies came to market, issuing a total of €6.6bn of paper in euros. That brought the total for the first four days of this week to over €20bn. Despite the heavy supply, issuers have found sufficient demand to support their notes.

Paddy Power is looking to sell US private placements in the next few weeks, according to market participants, as the Irish bookmaker is set to recreate the success of Australian peers in the market.

Danaher printed its much anticipated €6.25bn jumbo bond issue on Tuesday. The US conglomerate, rated A2/A, focused its five tranches on intermediate to longer tenors, which corporate syndicate bankers took to indicate where many investors want to put their money.

The Province of Quebec slipped into the sterling market on Wednesday to print a fresh £250m December 2024 bond.

Europe's corporate bond market opened emphatically for business on Tuesday, as seven issuers banished all memories of the summer holiday. Despite there being plenty of choice for investors, demand was high across the board. Multiple deals were two to three times oversubscribed, while the largest, a €3.5bn four trancher from Siemens, the machinery maker, was nearly 4.5 times covered.

The UK Debt Management Office has announced that it is planning to reopen its 2054 Gilt through syndication in the week beginning September 9.

One Housing, a UK housing association focused on London and southeast England, has sold £150m of secured and unsecured US private placement notes to institutional investors.

Highgate School in north London has closed a £60m US private placement, joining a clutch of private schools using the instrument for long term financing.

The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen priced a €750m 2049 trade on Tuesday, stretching out its curve by 10 years to become the second German SSA bond issuer in as many weeks to borrow for longer in able to offer a positive yield to investors.

Rating: //AAA

Next, the Baa2/BBB (negative) UK retailer broke a dry spell for corporate investment grade issuance on Wednesday when it sold £50m of bonds retained from a new issue done in April.