North America

Coca-Cola Femsa, the world’s largest franchised Coca-Cola bottler, is preparing to sell a debut green bond that it says it will use to finance its transition towards low-carbon operations and minimise its exposure to environmental risks.

Nice Ltd, the New York-listed Israeli software company, has tapped the equity-linked market for financing with a new $400m five year convertible bond.

21Vianet Group, a Chinese internet and data centre provider, is tapping equity investors with a follow-on offer of new American Depository Shares.

Investors are doubtful whether the extraordinary stock market rally of the last few months will continue, as they await news of a vaccine, further economic fallout from the pandemic, and the result of the US presidential election. If they want to maintain equity exposure while limiting potential losses, UBS analysts have suggested using call options for certain indices.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng has hit the road with its $1.1bn New York Stock Exchange IPO. It is the latest in a building pipeline of US listings by Mainland-based companies that are undeterred by rising tensions between the two countries.

China’s Zijin Mining Co has returned to the loan market for an $800m deal to refinance a borrowing used for its acquisition of Nevsun Resources.

Johnson & Johnson raced to the dollar bond market on Thursday with a quick-fire acquisition financing that raised $7.5bn, pushing issuance in August within sight of $100bn for the first time.

UBS reckons it has a hit upon a ‘unique formula’ for growth as it expands its investment banking offering to its high net worth clients, writes David Rothnie.

Gillmann to join Barclays for logistics — Citi picks new Nigeria head — Charles, Habeck hired by Greensill

VOLQ futures, a contract based on the Nasdaq 100 volatility index, is set to be available in time for investors to hedge potential volatility as a result of the US presidential election. Tim McCourt, global head of equity index and alternative investments at CME Group — which is launching the product — said that investors could use VOLQ in conjunction with the VIX, run by rival CBOE Global Markets.

Momentum in the burgeoning green convertible bond market has continued this week with a new $125m issue from Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc (HASI), the New York-listed real estate investment trust focused on sustainable properties and assets.

Over $2.4bn of new convertible bonds have been issued into the US equity-linked market so far this week with the pace of deals showing little sign of slowing down in August, a traditionally quieter month of the year in other regions.