Société Générale

Combined books of $9.5bn enabled the Republic of Senegal to both print the tightest ever dollar 30 year dollar bond from a sub-Saharan African issuer (ex-South Africa), and to revise guidance by 50bp for its euro debut on Tuesday.

Société Générale has promoted Raj Malhotra to the position of head of debt capital markets for Asia Pacific, according to a press release on Wednesday.

Kommunekredit has printed a €1bn five year note — but two more SSA borrowers are lining up further out in the curve.

Since Danish transport and logistics company AP Møller-Maersk last visited the bond market, both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have downgraded its ratings and put them on negative watch. However, it still managed to issue its longest maturity deal so far in euros, alongside a tender offer.

Price talk for Senegal’s new euro bond prompted fierce debate on Tuesday morning. Based on guidance, syndicate bankers away from the deal questioned the cost of the deal compared with a dollar issue, though the strong pricing result in euros may have put the debate to rest.

Société Générale has announced new heads of coverage for public sector entities and financial sponsors.

A pair of chunky fundraisings in Asia have been lapped up by banks, as China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group look to wrap up syndications next week.

Russian Copper Company has signed a $250m loan with a club of banks to refinance a previous facility.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea raked in a larger than expected Rmb1.5bn ($236.5m) from an offshore renminbi bond on Friday, in a deal buoyed by Taiwanese investors’ appetite for new paper.

On Friday, Unilever Spreads released guidance for its €4.6bn equivalent loan to fund its acquisition by KKR. French telecoms infrastructure group Circet also launched a smaller deal, a €570m loan package for its buyout by Advent. But investor demand isn't satisfied yet, say some market participants.

Econocom, the Belgian provider of digital business-to-business services, shook off fears over stockmarket volatility to issue a €200m convertible bond on Thursday.

RCI Banque was one of the first issuers to sell a corporate bond in 2018. It has returned two months later with a dual-tranche offering which took advantage of demand for floating rate notes as well as fixed rate paper.