Grieg Seafood is poised to add another building block to the nascent green bond aquaculture sector, despite a European Commission anti-competitive behaviour investigation hanging over the company.

Grieg's proposed Norwegian krone senior unsecured five-year note would make it only the second borrower in the aquaculture sector to issue a green bond, according to IFR data.

It will follow fellow Norwegian seafood producer Mowi, which joined the ranks of corporate borrowers issuing green bonds that burnish their ESG credentials.

Mowi priced a €200m five-year non-call three unrated floating-rate transaction in January that, with demand of over €700m, opened the gates for fish farming companies looking to tap the green bond market, according to bankers speaking to IFR at the time.

"We are considering issuing a green bond now because we recently launched an ambitious strategy for sustainable growth towards 2025 and would like to have options for financing the...

(Reuters) Lebanon could have recently had an oil tanker seized by Eurobond holders because of its stinging debt crisis and the government was taking steps to avoid such risks in future, the energy minister said on Thursday.

Lebanon plunged into a US$31bn sovereign default in March, saying it needed to preserve dwindling dollars for vital imports, and has since entered talks with the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking at the presidential palace about an ongoing fuel oil shortage, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar listed the potential seizure of an oil tanker off its shore by bondholders as among the issues complicating the country's supplies.

"We have been exposed on this issue to several setbacks including what happened about two weeks ago because we weren't able to open credit at the central bank in the required time, so there was a risk that the oil tanker would be subject to seizure by the Eurobond holders," said Ghajar.

"We are studying this issue in...

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed former fixed income trader Robert Begbie as chief executive of NatWest Markets on a permanent basis and hired former MUFG executive David King as the investment bank unit's finance chief.

Begbie has been interim CEO of NatWest Markets since December 19. He took over from Chris Marks, who was axed by RBS CEO Alison Rose shortly after she took over in November.

Begbie was previously treasurer of RBS. He joined RBS in 1994 as head of fixed income trading and has held various roles, including head of equity derivative and structured investor product sales, head of balance sheet management, and head of capital planning and management for US unit Citizens, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

RBS said King is expected to take over as CFO some time this summer. He was previously CEO of MUFG Securities EMEA for nine years until April 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.

King replaces Robert Horrocks, who has been interim...

Volkswagen capitalised on growing interest in higher yielding structures by issuing €3bn of subordinated bonds on Wednesday as the reopening of the corporate hybrid market gathers momentum.

Lower yields and negative concessions in other products are encouraging investors towards riskier instruments, with VW becoming the fourth corporate hybrid issuer since the market reopened last month.

The carmaker is arguably the banner credit for the product so a book peaking at over €7.25bn for the dual-tranche issue was an encouraging sign.

However, VW had to offer attractive terms. Not only did the trade offer yield in absolute terms, but also provided a substantial pick-up over its senior bonds.

"For a lot of investors the attraction is that clear definition you are getting between some issuers' senior and subordinated curves," said a banker away.

At IPTs of 3.875% area for the PNC5 and 4.375% area for the PNC9, the bonds offered a yield pick-up of around...

The US IG primary is stepping back a bit on Wednesday, with just six deals, including one from LatAm, slated for sale ahead of the end of the Federal Reserve meeting later today.

The Fed is expected to make announcements on policy and the economy, including whether it will offer a plan to manage the yield curve.

On Tuesday, seven IG offerings were priced, totaling US$6.95bn, pushing weekly issuance to US$19.6bn and monthly to US$67.7bn, according to IFR data.

The average new issue concession increased to 9.4bp Tuesday from 2.6bp Monday, while the average break performance strengthened to -7.5bp Tuesday from -3.1bp Monday. This week's new issues are trading 3.8bps tighter on average from pricing.

Commenting on the current credit environment, Goldman Sachs said, "The second leg of the recovery in credit markets has taken USD IG and HY spreads to levels consistent with the early stage of an economic recovery."

"In our view, risk premia will likely...

Standard Chartered has completed the first sustainable "use of proceeds" fund financing loan for a US borrower, in a deal for KKR’s Global Impact Fund that highlights the potential for more ESG deals in the US$575bn global fund financing market.

The financing - the size of which was not disclosed - will provide the revolving credit facility for KKR’s US$1.3bn Global Impact Fund, which aims to generate private equity-type risk-adjusted returns by investing in lower mid-market companies that are contributing to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Fund financing is a lucrative business for both private equity firms, which use the loans to improve their internal rates of return by bridging capital calls from limited partners, and the banks arranging the deals.

US law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft said that the private fund finance market grew strongly to an estimated US$575bn in 2019 and is forecasting growth in lender portfolios of up to 15%...

The US IG primary expects at least seven deals today, with HP Inc. the marquee offering.

Monday saw another brisk day for IG offerings with 13 deals priced totaling US$12.65bn, pushing monthly volume to US$60.75bn, according to IFR data. Year-to-date issuance stands at US$1.088trn.

Bank of America said the average new issue concession increased to 2.6bp on Monday from 1.5bp last week, while the average break performance softened to -3.2bp on Monday from -8.2bp last week. And CDX IG widened 1.75bp, while CDX HY dropped $0.52pts.

BofA also said IG corporate bond spreads have retraced 81% of the recent spread widening - from the tights on February 19 to the wides on March 23.

"Given very strong technicals in US IG credit spreads should continue to outperform," the bank said.

HIGH GRADE

HP Inc. is leading the market on Tuesday with a three-part deal, which will mark its first bond issuance since Hewlett Packard split into two companies in...

Utility PG&E Corp plans to raise some US$17bn in new debt as it seeks to fund its emergence from bankruptcy, with new bond deals expected to come as soon as this week, say sources.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection early last year after facing billions of dollars in legal claims stemming from its alleged involvement in deadly wildfires in California.

PG&E is now nearing the end of the process with an reorganization plan to help it finance some US$25bn in claims. That will involve some US$57bn in funding, of which US$27bn will be sourced from future public offering.

"We continue to work diligently to obtain approval for our Plan of Reorganization by the Bankruptcy Court as soon as possible, so victims will be paid fairly and quickly," said a company spokesperson.

About US$17bn of that US$27bn in public funding will take the form of debt, including US$4.8bn of new holdco debt, US$5.9bn of new utility opco debt and US$6bn of temporary...

European high-yield bond syndicate bankers are hopeful that the spigot will soon open for further issuance, including M&A financing, following the recent market rally.

Virgin Media and Swiss packaging group SIG Combibloc both announced deals on Monday to refinance part of their capital structures.

Virgin's 10-year non-call five bond was being talked at 3.75%-4.00% by the mid-afternoon.

"You've seen how the market has evolved," said a London-based high-yield banker familiar with SIG's bond.

"The first few deals in euros were from big structures and so-called Covid winners like Stada and Netflix. But over the last week on the loan side we're seeing some previously pulled deals coming back to the market."

Deals such as those for UK software firm Micro Focus and Dutch equipment company Boels that were recently resurrected in the leveraged loan market, after being pulled whe conditions wewre more uncertain, should give high-yield borrowers cause for...

The IG primary is feeling pretty lucky today as at least 13 deals are slated to join the issuance party.

States, counties and cities around the nation are slowly and by degree beginning to open up after months of Covid-19 lockdowns. And a robust jobs report on Friday showed over 2 million jobs created after millions upon millions of job losses.

The flow of IG deals has been steady throughout, though, with the odd day off for a holiday or a break like last Friday.

Issuers have been buoyed by the Federal Reserves commitment to the corporate bond market through its primary and secondary purchasing programs, as well as low rates, and a thirst for liquidity.

Investors have seen credit spreads in the IG and high-yield sectors ratchet tighter over the last few months as an unsatisfied demand for bonds continues to devour offerings.

And the US stock markets have rallied over the weeks, nearing their all-time highs again.

HIGH GRADE

The primary...

North Korea’s introduction of US dollar bonds signals a foreign currency shortage rather than a step towards engagement with the global capital markets, according to experts.

News sources and analysts said that the North Korea regime appeared to sell government bonds onshore last month after sanctions and the global coronavirus pandemic caused its foreign reserves to dwindle.

Details of the issue are not known, but Daily NK, a news service focused on North Korea and considered credible by experts, reported that 60% of the bonds were allocated to state-owned enterprises and 40% to individuals including donju, or entrepreneurs.

This is not the first time that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as it is officially known, has embarked on a so-called "bond-buying" programme. In 2003, it sold "People's Life Bonds" denominated in North Korean won and targeted at resident individuals. The bonds had a 10-year tenor and did not pay coupons, but bondholders...