United States

US aircraft component maker Rockwell Collins re-opened the dollar market with the biggest deal in its history and propelled high-grade issuance to its busiest first quarter on record.

With big, powerful rivals including the syndicated loan market, the European private placement or Euro PP market has its work cut out to establish itself as a genuine alternative for companies looking to raise debt. However, its flexibility and growing institutional investor base mean there are plenty of grounds for optimism. Philip Moore reports.

Those who work in the US private placement market, as it is often referred to, say this is a misnomer. They prefer ‘traditional’ or ‘global’ private placement market and, while the European challenge may be increasing, the numbers suggest they have a point. Richard Metcalf reports.

While the large US insurance companies remain the bedrock of the US private placement investor base, slim pickings elsewhere in the capital markets are pushing other kinds of investors to look at the product. But with demand for paper already far outweighing supply, market participants do not necessarily see this as a boon. Richard Metcalf reports.

The role of the US private placement market in infrastructure project finance has expanded in recent years as investors have become more accommodating, competing with traditional sources of project finance in an effort to place vast amounts of capital amid scarce supply and low rates. Richard Metcalf reports.

A slight rally in higher beta bonds put greater confidence behind a number of projects in both dollars and euros this week, after cheap funding from the European Central Bank and a softer market tone helped slow FIG issuance to a near standstill.

China Renaissance Group and ICBC International Holdings this week unveiled a partnership to provide financial services across mainland China, Hong Kong and the US.

Investcorp, the Bahraini investment house, wants to more than double its leveraged credit portfolio to $25bn, after buying the global debt business from 3i.

A global equities sell-off and political concerns hit the dollar new issuance market this week as trades gapped wider of new issue and borrowers remained on the sidelines.

European bank issuers of additional tier one (AT1) have been abandoning the euro market in favour of dollars. But some have had to start embracing equity conversion structures to join in because it is one of the few ways to account for AT1s as debt and avoid a mark-to-market swap.

Rosenthal Collins, the US futures broker and clearing company, has promoted Robert Turner to be its new chief operating officer and Patrick Carey to be in control of a new function, strategic implementation.

New deals marketed this week by US borrowers Owens-Illinois and Federal-Mogul pushed reverse Yankee issuance to 25% of the €22bn of euro high yield issuance so far in 2017.