Rising Japanese bond yields have encouraged global investors and companies to increase their hedging of Japanese interest rate risk for the first time in years, banks and consultants say, ahead of Japan’s snap general election this weekend in which prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party is projected to win a landslide victory.
SpaceX has acquired its sister company xAI for US$250bn, in a deal that will provide some much-needed financial support to the lossmaking AI and social media platform – but which could complicate the rocket maker’s plans to launch the world’s biggest ever IPO in June.
The stalled sovereign debt-for-development swap market is set for its first deals in more than a year after a notable new player created by DFD pioneer Ramzi Issa signed up a leading speciality insurer to back its transactions.
After five years of under-budget privatisation receipts, the Indian government appears to have finally decided to take advantage of the country's booming equity capital market to sell more stakes in state-owned companies.
The UK's Transition Finance Council is getting ready to publish overarching global guidelines to assess the credibility of companies and groups' transition plans as the architecture to scale up transition finance continues to move into place.
US$50bn funding blitz shows Oracle’s market access – and its vulnerability
Oracle has moved to retake control of its narrative after a brutal few months that wiped half a trillion dollars from its valuation, with the launch of a US$50bn financing package aimed at demonstrating its access to capital to dispel concerns about its rapidly rising debts.
Underwriting banks have been forced to fund the debt backing Conga’s acquisition of the business-to-business division of Pros Holdings amid a sharp selloff in software stocks as investors raised concerns about the borrower’s AI exposure.
Banks’ corporate bond trading revenues have slumped to their lowest level in more than a decade, according to benchmarking firm BCG Expand, in the wake of a rapid electronification of these markets that is eroding the profitability of credit trading desks.
As foreign financiers increase their involvement in leveraged finance in Japan, the market practices and terms they bring with them are shaking up the country's traditionally conservative lending landscape.
Seeds and crop protection giant Syngenta Group met banks last week to pick IPO arrangers for what could be the largest listing in Hong Kong in seven years.
The AI boom has been backed by investor enthusiasm – and their money – on an unprecedented scale. Investment bankers have high hopes of a huge year for deals. But just like the broader economy, will this be a K-shaped market for tech deals?
SpaceX purchase of xAI brings relief – and headaches – ahead of record IPO
SpaceX has acquired its sister company xAI for US$250bn, in a deal that will provide some much-needed financial support to the lossmaking AI and social media platform – but which could complicate the rocket maker’s plans to launch the world’s biggest ever IPO in June.
UBS steps up return ambitions after trading record
UBS has increased its returns target for 2028 after delivering bumper annual results as its takeover of Credit Suisse continues to bear fruit and it delivered record fourth-quarter trading revenues, up 17% from a year earlier.
Hong Kong's securities regulator is clamping down on poor quality listing documents after identifying some "serious deficiencies" in filings, warning that some bookrunners are failing to meet standards as they grapple with a surge in initial public offerings.
Who's next for DSRB after Canada backs defence bank?
Canada has publicly backed the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, becoming the first sovereign to offer verbal support in a major milestone for the proposed multilateral development bank.
Oracle raises US$25bn in bond offering as AI funding spree continues
Oracle stepped back into the US high-grade market on February 2 to raise US$25bn as part of a larger US$50bn debt and equity financing as the enterprise software company sought to hold on to its investment-grade rating amid massive fundraising efforts to build out its AI business.
Poland successfully printed one of the largest international yen bond deals on Friday, even though the market was on tenterhooks ahead of Japan's February 8 snap elections.
India has unveiled fresh incentives to spur municipal bonds and deepen the corporate bond market, while proposing to set up a risk guarantee fund to support infrastructure lending.
FIG issuers went big in senior unsecured markets in the first week of February, with many bringing multi-tranche deals to capitalise on market conditions that some participants say are too good to last.
Three Australian states tapped benchmark lines in a week when the asset class became even more alluring to yield-focused investors, thanks to a hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia rate rise.
A Blackstone joint venture is in the securitisation market with a US$3bn offering to refinance the Cosmopolitan casino on the Las Vegas Strip that it purchased in 2022.
Australian digital financial services company Zip broke new ground with its 12th buy now, pay later consumer loans ABS issue, the A$300m (US$210m) Zip Master Trust Series 2026-1, which was priced on January 30.
Volkswagen Financial Services is marketing the latest iteration of its UK Driver Multi-Compartment programme, as UK auto ABS issuance is set to gain momentum amid growing clarity in the sector.
The stalled sovereign debt-for-development swap market is set for its first deals in more than a year after a notable new player created by DFD pioneer Ramzi Issa signed up a leading speciality insurer to back its transactions.
Transition Finance Council set to publish new guidelines
The UK's Transition Finance Council is getting ready to publish overarching global guidelines to assess the credibility of companies and groups' transition plans as the architecture to scale up transition finance continues to move into place.
CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean has become the first borrower to apply the United Nations Children’s Fund’s Child-Lens Investing Framework to its bond issues. Launched in September 2023 and updated the following year, the framework aims "to advance positive child outcomes while also minimising child harm".
The World Bank should allocate far more of its record profits to its International Development Association concessional loan and grant arm for the world’s poorest countries, according to the Centre for Global Development.
EU Green Bonds totalling €24bn-equivalent have been issued since the bloc adopted its Green Bond Standard in December 2024 and volume is expected to grow steadily this year, according to research by Natixis.
Seeds and crop protection giant Syngenta Group met banks last week to pick IPO arrangers for what could be the largest listing in Hong Kong in seven years.
Liftoff Mobile pulled its up to US$762m Nasdaq IPO on Thursday evening in the wake of the week's selloff of software stocks due to investor concerns about the threat to the sector from AI.
Oracle takes bottom-up approach to funding 2026 capex
Amid an unprecedented AI-focused borrowing binge, Oracle became the first of the hyperscalers to blink on the public equity side, raising US$5bn from the sale of a mandatory convertible preferred, while filing to sell another US$20bn of stock on the open market through an at-the-market programme.
Forgent powers through jumbo IPO as AI fuels demand
Forgent Power Solutions raised US$1.5bn on Wednesday from a NYSE IPO that was heavily oversubscribed, though the lead banks were reluctant to push too hard on pricing.
Underwriting banks have been forced to fund the debt backing Conga’s acquisition of the business-to-business division of Pros Holdings amid a sharp selloff in software stocks as investors raised concerns about the borrower’s AI exposure.
Private credit funds' significant exposure to the software industry, once seen as a relatively safe bet, has become a potential landmine as investors grow increasingly concerned that artificial intelligence could disrupt software companies’ business models and undermine the loans backing those investments.
As foreign financiers increase their involvement in leveraged finance in Japan, the market practices and terms they bring with them are shaking up the country's traditionally conservative lending landscape.
Defence sector opens new frontier for European levfin
Private equity firms are ramping up their focus on the aerospace and defence sector as global military spending accelerates, creating new financing opportunities for European direct lending and syndicated loan markets, which have historically lagged the US in underwriting defence-related credits.
A S$5bn (US$3.93bn) borrowing backing a KKR-led consortium’s proposed acquisition of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres is likely to be clubbed among top-tier banks, leaving retail lenders out of the largest leveraged buyout loan from the sector in Asia Pacific.
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