Wells Fargo Securities

The US dollar bond market ended a record-breaking month on a downbeat note as borrowers stayed on the sidelines amid a poor technical backdrop. Charter Communications became the first SEC registered issuer of the week on Thursday with a long five year trade and the only two other benchmark trades were from 144A issuers on Tuesday.

US firm Comcast has doubled down on its jumbo acquisition plans by offering to buy 21st Century Fox in an all cash $65bn deal that the cable company says it will run concurrently with its bid against the purchase target for UK media company Sky.

Bank of China’s Luxembourg branch has signed a $1.05bn syndicated loan after launching the deal at half that amount in the latest display of lenders scrambling to allocate funds.

Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum has slashed 90bp off the margin of its $5bn reserves-based lending facility, as borrowers continue to heap pressure on lenders over pricing.

DBS Group Holdings gave US investors the opportunity to lay their hands on a rare Singaporean bank tier two bond in the 144A format this week, raising $750m despite a crowded primary market.

Keurig Green Mountain enjoyed the best of dollar bond market conditions as investors drank deep before a spike in US Treasury rates sent borrowers scurrying to the sidelines.

GlaxoSmithKline added to the crush of red hot dollar bond supply this week, as borrowers began a spring stampede to lock in funding ahead of a likely rate rise next month.

After four years away from the high yield market, UK North Sea operator Ithaca Energy was back with a bond refinancing deal this week, as European oil and gas issuance runs well ahead of last year’s pace.

How risky is it to lend money to a coal-fired power plant or an oil company? OK for another five years, perhaps — but how much longer can they carry on in the face of climate change? So far, banks have largely ducked questions like these. But from next year, more and more of them will be giving some kind of answer in their annual reports.

US corporate bond bankers are hoping for a busy start to the month for the dollar new issue market as companies emerge from earnings blackouts to bring some big M&A trades.

Comcast, the US’s largest cable company, has made a formal £22bn debt-financed takeover offer for Sky, seemingly ending 21st Century Fox’s attempts to buy the part of the company it does not already own.

Metallurgical Corporation of China and BOC Aviation found strong investor support for their bonds on Monday, with the former bagging Asia’s first senior perpetual bond in more than a month and the latter walking away with an over six times covered transaction.