Jumbo multi-tranche corporate and acquisition financings and some well executed long-end trades were stand-outs. The FIG highlight was Alpha Bank’s Tier 2, whose 4.25% yield was a full 100bp through the top end of initial price thoughts as EUR 5.5bn in orders from 340 investors flooded into the book.

Elsewhere, the saga of whether banks will, won’t or should call upcoming AT1s when they hit call dates was again thrust to the fore. Barclays confirmed it wouldn’t be calling its 4.75% non‐cumulative callable PNC15 preference shares on 15 March, while Deutsche Bank raised speculation about whether it will call its dollar AT1s in April.

Corporates were front and centre of bond activity; the highlights LVMH’s USD 10.2bn-equivalent seven-tranche Tiffany acquisition financing in euros and sterling, and IBM and Comcast’s multi-headed jumbo reverse Yankees.

Read the full report by Keith Mullin