North America

The dollar corporate bond market has a more subdued feel this week, after its stellar start to the year, as US issuers are moving into earnings blackouts. But even as politics took centre stage as Congress moved to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time, ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, corporate borrowers quietly churned out deals.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Nio raised $1.3bn from a dual-tranche convertible bond this week, while trimming its existing debt with a concurrent buyback.

Just over a week after it reopened EM bond markets with a dollar deal, Mexico is turning to euros for a dual tranche new issue as part of a liability management exercise.

A trio of SSA issuers pulled off another string of successful deals in the dollar market on Wednesday, with issuers able to push the envelope on pricing more than is usually possible in January.

Mexican firm Nueva Elektra del Milenio sold $500m of seven-year senior secured bonds on Tuesday, benefiting from a structure that granted it an investment grade rating.

Chinese video sharing and gaming platform Bilibili is on track to launch its Hong Kong secondary listing within a month. It is aiming to raise around $2.5bn, according to a source close to the deal.

Mexican lender Crédito Real on Monday became the first Latin American non-bank financial institution (NBFI) to tap international bond markets since the coronavirus pandemic began as it raised $500m of seven year debt.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio is tapping the equity-linked market for a jumbo convertible bond, as it looks to add more to its coffers just a month after a multi-billion-dollar share sale.

This week in Keeping Tabs: US Capitol invaded but economic growth projections up, the UK's 12 week policy on vaccines, and insolvency in Europe.

CPPIB Capital mandated the banks to lead its first ever 20 year euro benchmark on Friday, in what is also the first mandate announcement for a benchmark transaction by a non-sovereign/sub-sovereign public sector borrower in the long end of the euro curve in 2021.

MTN issuance out of Asia and Sweden provided some of the week’s bright spots in what was otherwise a quiet start to the year. With the public market now in full swing, bankers expect the private placement market to get up to speed in the coming weeks.

Gracell Biotechnologies has raised $209m from its Nasdaq IPO after increasing the size of the float and pricing the deal above the initial marketed range.