North America

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced in May that it was to acquire Patheon for $7.2bn, including $2bn of net debt. Thermo Fisher expected to finance the deal with $5.2bn of debt and $2bn of equity. On Tuesday it put a big dent in the debt figure with a €2.6bn four tranche corporate bond offer.

The Province of Alberta is planning another two dollar benchmarks during this calendar year, as it attempts to make up lost time after a surprise rating action by S&P earlier in the year. The sub-sovereign also revealed to GlobalCapital its issuance expectations for its new US commercial paper programme.

Fallen angels — corporate borrowers that lose their investment grade ratings — have become a key source of supply in global high yield bonds markets over the years. But there are signs that, particularly in Europe, such supply is ebbing away as corporate balance sheets improve. This is driving HY investors elsewhere to seek new credits.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce issued a $1.75bn five year dollar covered bond on Thursday, its first since 2015 and the third of the same size and tenor from a Canadian bank this year.

The Province of Alberta on Wednesday passed its first bond market test since suffering a double downgrade from S&P in May. Bankers away from the trade said it was a “good outcome”, despite having to pay a bit of concession — unlike most other dollar deals over the last few weeks.

Bain Capital is calling on the recent demand for lower rated high yield bonds in Europe to fund the acquisition of US cleaning products supplier Diversey Care.

Bank of America posted higher earnings than expected for the second quarter, offsetting a 14% drop of revenue from its fixed income trading business.

Hong Kong-listed China Resources Land is returning to the Panda market on July 21 after a year-long absence. The company, which is hoping to raise Rmb5bn ($741m), will be the second red chip real estate issuer in two days to price a dual-tranche Panda deal.

Sweden on Tuesday printed a dollar benchmark at one of the tightest spreads to mid-swaps from a public sector issuer this year, as a Canadian province prepared to bring a deal in the currency further out the curve.

Thermo Fisher Scientific put a big dent in the debt it needs to raise to buy Patheon on Tuesday with a €2.6bn four tranche corporate bond offer.

British Columbia has hired Bank of China (BOC) for its second Panda deal, GlobalRMB has learned. Meanwhile, Hungary has chosen BOC and HSBC for a long-awaited Panda debut with a prospectus expected on Friday.

This year's lower volatility environment took a toll on Citi’s trading profit in the second quarter, with the bank also bracing itself for higher loss expectations in retail services.