Société Générale

Covered bonds maintained primary market momentum this week, but issuers adopted very different pricing strategies and delivered contrasting outcomes. The degree of hesitancy that had been evident in the run up to last week’s European Central Bank meeting disappeared with a robust bid returning for higher yielding bonds. In contrast, low beta deals that offered a negligible spread were only just subscribed.

Alstom Auxiliary Components has widened price guidance on the first lien tranche of its €630m-equivalent leveraged loan facility by up to 75bp.

Spanish olive oil producer Deoleo scrapped the entire dollar tranche of its €600m loan last week but as the dust settles on the deal it has emerged that US, rather than European investors, played the pivotal role in this swing.

This week's European corporate bond issuance continued to pick up the pace on Thursday, as four deals came to the mainstream euro and sterling markets, plus an Austrian retail-targeted issue for Novomatic, which makes gambling machines.

Indian Oil Corporation launched its $650m five year loan into syndication on June 6 after adding five mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners to the existing nine.

Commodities trader Gunvor Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gunvor Group, has closed its syndicated facility at a much larger than targeted size of $536.6m, after it was oversubscribed in general syndication.

Eleven banks have joined Chinese state-owned grain trader COFCO’s $3.2bn dual tranche loan, even though it was launched at a time when regulators were cracking down on bank exposure to China.

France returned to the primary debt market this week with its first syndicated linker in more than three years, drawing a hefty order book for the inflation-linked bonds despite concerns over deflation in the eurozone.

Sandvik and Sixt both launched sub-benchmark bonds today, after Sandvik had roadshowed on Monday and Tuesday and Sixt had held a conference call with investors on Tuesday morning.

Alstom Auxiliary Components has widened price guidance on the first lien tranche of its €630m-equivalent leveraged loan facility by up to 75bp.

Sovereign, supranational and agency bankers are braced for a busy week of issuance, as demand for paper soars in the wake of the European Central Bank’s unveiling of a series of measures which have butchered rates last Thursday.

Korean issuance is picking up in the wake of the Republic of Korea’s dual tranche offering on June 3. Latest out the blocks include Korea National Oil Corp. which is meeting investors for a euro-denominated bond, and Korea Gas Corp, which is looking at dollars.