Total investment grade issuance for the year stood at $25.75 billion as of Thursday, January 10. The issuance pattern has followed a predictable path, with higher quality frequent borrowers accessing the market first followed by the best of the high yield and emerging markets credits. Average deal size has remained close to $1 billion as syndicate desks have focused first on bringing the large global deals. Notable deals for the week in investment grade included the continued broker dealers (Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse) as well as a $3 billion deal for the EBRD. In high yield, Charter Communication (B2/B+) did a three tranche ($1.1 billion total) and in emerging markets, both Mexico (Baa3/BB+) and Brazil (B1/BB-) brought 10-years for $1.5 billion and $1.25 billion, respectively, while the Philippines (Ba1/BB+) issued $750 million 15-years.
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