Pre-migration untagged articles

Commodity supplier Glencore mandated Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and HSBC for a seven year euro benchmark bond today. Guidance has been set between 290bp and 300bp over mid-swaps. After GE’s disappointing results on Friday, and anxiously anticipated US bank earnings this week, many had written off the chances of any corporate new issuance in Europe this week. Read EuroWeek on Friday to find out how investors responded to Glencore’s offering.

Encourage by the recent success of Poland, the Republic of Hungary made its Swiss franc bond debut yesterday with a Sfr150m five year and a Sfr200m eight year issue, via ABN Amro and Credit Suisse. Swiss investors got even more chance to diversify their portfolios on Tuesday as the Province of Québec was also in the market with a Sfr250m 10 year via ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank.

The new issue concession priced into bonds has been steadily diminishing for three or four weeks as the post-Bear Stearns bailout mood improves, but this week Dell priced a $1.5bn five, 10 and 30 year deal which seemed to have no pick-up over credit default swaps at all. Yet it still attracted healthy orders.

Golden Key, a SIV-Lite that defaulted in August, has appointed Deloitte as a receiver and said there was “no prospect” of capital note investors getting any money back. Investors in the vehicle will hope Deloitte can restructure it and resolve a long-running dispute with Barclays, which arranged the programme, about a liquidity line. Read EuroWeek to find out the latest chapter in the SIV-Lite saga.

The only dollar issuer on the map so far this week is Spain’s Instituto de Crédito Oficial, with an oversubscribed $1.5bn-plus five year bond, priced at the tight end of guidance. Bankers hope the good market conditions will hold out for the International Finance Corp’s $1bn five year global, due next week, reportedly via JP Morgan and Nomura. Read Friday’s EuroWeek for the ins and outs of the Eksportfinans transaction and all this week’s deals.

Intesa Sanpaolo has priced its Eu3bn five year bond in line with guidance at 85bp over mid-swaps. The market is now looking to UBS, which is in the market with a 10 year fixed rate benchmark. Guidance is at 160bp area over mid-swaps. And Santander is today in the market with a two year euro benchmark floater through HSBC and Santander.

Russian food retailer Magnit this morning priced its follow-on equity offer and London GDR listing. Lead managers Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley priced the shares at $42.50 and GDRs at $8.50. A greenshoe option could add another $21.53m to the deal. Meanwhile, Russian rail freight operator Globaltrans set a price range for its London flotation of a 29% stake that could raise up to $509m, also via Deutsche and Morgan Stanley. Both deals will encourage equity markets in limbo. Read how the market reacts in EuroWeek on Friday.

The new bond issue market for emerging market borrowers has polarised. Gazprom and Halyk Bank’s issues suggests highly rated corporate and sovereign issuers can place chunky public deals. But at the other end, super-high yielding private deals are being sold to a handful of hedge funds. In a further fillip to the public markets, Russian steel maker Evraz is roadshowing its Reg S 144A benchmark, its first since 2005.

It is a busy week for triple-A issuers in euro bonds with successful outings from several issuers. KfW sold a Eu5bn three year instead of the five year planned earlier, Saxony-Anhalt a Eu1bn five year and Spanish state energy company CORES a Eu500m 10 year. Belgium is also in the market with a syndicated long five year OLO.

Wachovia became the latest US financial institution to report large losses this week, but the US broker-dealers continue to improve. Lehman Brothers is now 205bp/215bp, some 200bp inside the recent wide prints.

Discussions continued regarding the launch of the LCDX with cash settlement, polling and the gathering of up-to-date information the main points under consideration.

-- Matthew Jacob, airline analyst at Majestic Research, about Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines revising merger talks.