North America

Dollar market stalwart PepsiCo took centre stage in an otherwise subdued week for new US bond issuance, as it pleased investors with its green debut.

Yankee banks took advantage of a strong market backdrop this week ahead of US third quarter earnings season, with Canadian banks leading the charge.

"Difficult" seems to be the word on the lips of every equity capital market participant this week. Bankers, including those working on super-yacht builder Ferretti's IPO, and deal sponsors have found themselves battling against weak investor sentiment, driven by poor trading in some new deals, market volatility and a desire among fund managers to protect their performance as the year end approaches, writes Sam Kerr.

Vinit Sahni, co-founder of fintech start-up Arkera and a former senior rates banker, says that his company will help bond buyers take advantage of, what he believes will be, an upturn in local currency bonds ahead of the US election.

The US’s announcement this week that it was putting a whole host of Chinese companies on its blacklist for alleged involvement in human rights abuses is set to hit some of them hard. One of the victims is artificial intelligence (AI) leader Megvii Technology, which has been working on a billion-dollar Hong Kong IPO that will now be a challenge. Jonathan Breen reports.

Stocks listed on Shanghai’s new Star market could soon be included in MSCI’s index if they meet requirements, the index provider said on Wednesday.

Fangdd Network Group, an online platform for real estate agents, is planning an IPO on the Nasdaq, having filed draft documents with the US securities regulator this week.

Q&K International Group has filed for a Nasdaq IPO of American Depository Shares (ADS) with an aim to raise up to $100m.

Paddy Power’s prospective US private placement debut has been kicked into the long grass, according to sources familiar with the situation, as the Irish gambling company instead focuses on a merger with Canada’s PokerStars.

The postponement of the WeWork IPO last month and the under-performance of other 2019 debutants should not be the cause of woe for the US IPO market, but a sign that investors are adopting similar price discernment to European IPO buyers.

Greece has appointed a syndicate to lead a tap of the 10 year bond it issued earlier this year, in what will be its fourth public transaction of 2019. The trade will be joined in the market by a new 10 year euro benchmark from the Province of Québec.

Corporate, FIG and SSA issuers placed floating rate notes this week, pegged to Euribor, Sonia and Libor. With so many issuers coming to market, bankers are interested to see which other borrowers 'take advantage of the liquidity'.