Santander

Investment firms BlackRock and KKR have signed a $3.275bn loan to support a pipeline partnership with the United Arab Emirate’s state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), according to bankers. The agreement sparked interest among market participants, who expect an increase in public-private partnerships in the Middle East energy industry, some of which are likely to be financed through traditional capital markets. Mariam Meskin reports.

Europe's investment grade corporate bond market began the week with a hefty pack of new bond issues, as issuers were spurred on to bring deals by last week's rally and the favourable performance of past prints.

Bankia sold its first senior non-preferred bond this week after the market rallied following a dovish speech from Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank. The issuance attracted a hefty book of €3.7bn, more than seven times its pre-determined size of €500m.

Just two months after a dovish US Federal Reserve lured América Móvil to the dollar bond market for the first time in eight years, the Mexican telecoms giant was again able to make the most of benevolent central bank talk on Wednesday as it jumped on a rates rally in Europe for its first euro trade since 2016.

The rally set off European Central Bank president Mario Draghi's assertion on Tuesday that further quantitative easing was possible, if not probable, had reached a level by Wednesday that astonished bankers. Three investment grade companies took advantage that day with benchmark bond issues, while one brought a tap.

Santander Consumer Finance breezed through the market with a new five year senior bond on Wednesday, as FIG bankers predicted that there would be a pause for breath in the primary market after a frantic few weeks for new issuance.

Peru’s return to dollar bond markets after four years on Thursday saw it clinch its lowest ever yield and price flat to or even inside its better rated neighbour Chile. Yet so sought after is Peru’s hard currency paper that the government is having a tough time persuading bondholders to let go.

Toronto Dominion Bank has become only the second borrower from outside of the UK to sell a Sonia-linked covered bond, having quickly met enough orders on Monday to launch a £1bn offering in the sterling market.

A trio of Spanish banks hit the euro market this week, led by a popular offering of non-preferred senior bonds from CaixaBank.

Rating: A-/Baa1

Investors piled into deals for Spain and Italy on Wednesday despite the miniscule yields on offer, as the spectre of further easing of monetary policy looms large over the market.

BBVA and Santander came to the euro-denominated FIG market on Wednesday to make use of favourable conditions, proving that it is deep enough to digest supply from two issuers from the same country. Both banks priced their deals close to or at fair value.