Oceania

Europe's largest property company Unibail-Rodamco announced an agreed offer of $15.7bn for the equity of Westfield Corp, the Australian shopping centre operator, on Tuesday. The deal, which valued the enterprise at $24.7bn, was the second retail property consolidation in a week as the sector comes under the M&A spotlight, writes Nigel Owen.

Unibail-Rodamco has taken out a €6.1bn bridge facility from its advisers Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, to finance its acquisition of Westfield Corp, the Australian shopping centre operator, for an enterprise value of $24.7bn.

Rating: Aa2/AA

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) announced on Monday that it would complete its 2017 funding programme with a pair of taps on Tuesday. Conditions in euros looked strong on Monday, as they allowed the Council of Auckland to pull its spread in by 7bp for its second ever euro deal.

The European Financial Stability Facility should aim for a bond in the 10 to 12 year part of the curve if it wants to complete its funding for the year next week, according to an SSA syndicate official. Other upcoming euro supply includes Auckland Council.

Auckland Council is set to bring its second euro bond of the year — and only its third ever — next week, following a series of investor meetings in Europe.

QBE is set to become the first financial institution to issue a social bond as hybrid capital. The Australian insurance company picked banks on Thursday to arrange the sale of an additional tier one (AT1), the proceeds of which will be used in accordance with its gender-equality bond framework.

Westpac has hired an ex-BBVA banker to helm its Greater China operation as the Australian lender looks to further its reach in the region.

The main purposes of Fiji’s green bond issue are to highlight the importance of climate change, especially to island states, and to “lead by example” for other issuers in the Pacific region, said officials at the International Finance Corp who worked on the deal.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) this week raised Sf450m ($462.1m) from the Swiss franc bond market in the largest single tranche Swissie bond by an Australian financial since 2009. The borrower took advantage of the downgrade of a clutch of regular Swiss franc issuers to sell its trade.

ASB Finance reaped the rewards of a comprehensive roadshow and strong market conditions to issue its tightest and longest covered bond ever this week.

Having made euro investors wait three years since its last deal, in 2014, Australian pallet and container provider Brambles finally returned to the single currency market on Tuesday, printing a deal with virtually no new issue premium.