European and Asian bond markets were busy during the week, while US markets were very quiet ahead of the Labor Day break. An extremely busy period is expected afterwards as issuers seek to complete deals before the risk of volatility around the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision announcement on 16 September.
Pharmaceutical and bank issuance featured prominently in investment grade, while sovereign, SSA and emerging-market borrowers added sizeable transactions across several currencies.
Investment grade
| Issuer | Amount | Source-supplied note |
|---|---|---|
| GSK | €3.5 billion ($4.1 billion) | To help finance its $10.6 billion acquisition of Nuvalent |
| AstraZeneca | €2.55 billion | Pharmaceutical supply |
| BBVA | $2.3 billion | Bank supply |
| Bank of Nova Scotia | €1.75 billion | Bank supply |
| Caterpillar | €1.4 billion | Construction equipment manufacturer |
| Veolia | €1.15 billion | French utility company |
High yield and SoftBank’s financing pipeline
Spanish waste-management company Urbaser issued €200 million at 5.5% for six years.
SoftBank is working on a JPY 1 trillion (US$6.3 billion) Japanese retail deal, including for AI investment. It is also reportedly looking at an additional $10 billion to $20 billion USD and EUR bond deal.
Sovereign and SSA issuance
| Issuer | Amount | Structure or note |
|---|---|---|
| European Stability Mechanism | $2 billion | Eurozone SSA issuance |
| World Bank | GBP 1.25 billion | SSA issuance |
| Nordic Investment Bank | $1 billion | SSA issuance |
| Inter-American Development Bank | $2.5 billion | SSA issuance |
| Mexico | JPY 282 billion (USD 1.8 billion) | Samurai bond in 3-year to 20-year tranches |
Emerging markets
Mexico’s JPY 282 billion Samurai deal was the biggest EM transaction of the week. Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company KazMunayGas issued its second Dim Sum bond, at CNY 3.5 billion (USD 520 million). ICICI Bank issued $1 billion and Union Bank of India issued $600 million.
Distressed and stressed situations
- Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem secured 39% creditor support to launch a 90-day out-of-court restructuring attempt on $11 billion of debt.
- Aston Martin creditors filed for discovery as part of a challenge to the company’s dropdown financing with HPS.
- Chinese property developer Logan Group, with $7.5 billion of offshore debt, received Hong Kong court approval for its debt restructuring plan.
Related DCM Insider subscriber coverage: on covenant tightening.
Related coverage: the 31 August DCM Insider weekly overview.
