UBS

E-commerce firm Alibaba Group, which was expected to open books for a jumbo IPO on September 2, has decided to push back bookbuilding by a week. This is bad news for other issuers sitting on the sidelines as they will have to wait slightly longer before they go ahead with their own listings.

Indonesian industrial estate developer Kawasan Indus tri Jababeka is meeting investors in Asia this week for an exchange offer of its existing 2017s. Those bonds have rallied in secondary as the exchange offer is the only way investors can get their hands on the new bonds which are offering an attractive yield.

China Oceanwide Holdings Group is expected to issue a five year bond to finance an acquisition of land in Los Angeles according to an investor who met the company last week.

Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital sold a HK$4.095bn ($528m) stake in CSPC Pharmaceutical Group on August 28 by pricing at the bottom of guidance in what was its fourth stake reduction in the company in 16 months.

Rating: A2/A/A

Zurich based debt bankers are preparing for an exciting close to the year, with September set to bring a four month race between the Swiss franc market’s two top dogs as perpetual bridesmaid UBS threatens to take the top spot for the first time since the 1990s.

Mergers and acquisitions are set to be an important driver of corporate bond issuance this autumn. Deal mandates are already building up — in fact, M&A is the driver for virtually all the deals that have yet appeared in Europe’s corporate bond pipeline this season.

UBS sold the first euro denominated senior unsecured new issue from a bank since July on Wednesday afternoon, a dual tranche print. The issuer drew in a bumper order book with what bankers away from the deal described as generous new issue premiums before tightening the spreads in to price in line with fair value.

The additional tier one deal pipeline may have shuddered back into life earlier than expected this week as two banks announced roadshows following a rally inspired by inspired by dovish comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi. But volatility has since set back into the market and looks ready to test the asset class’s hardiness, writes Graham Bippart.

A €500m covered bond tap from National Australia Bank this week attracted unexpectedly vigorous interest from European bank investors on speculation that, despite coming from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), it will be eligible for inclusion in liquidity buffers. The deal will have been closely watched by other non-EEA issuers wanting to take advantage of demand before final regulatory guidelines are published at the end of September.

Concerns that there would be a dearth of additional tier one (AT1) deals ahead of the European Central Bank’s Asset Quality Review appear to be receding as Santander joins the pipeline, mandating leads for its second euro denominated AT1.

Bumi Armada’s biggest shareholder, Objektif Bersatu, has raised MR636.4m ($202.1m) by selling a 7% stake in the Malaysian company. Launched on the back of news of an upcoming rights issue, the block came with a fixed price to ensure the final deal size could increase with demand.