European companies eye Yankee opportunity

摘要

European companies are expected to hit the US market in bigger droves in the coming months, following in the footsteps of PHILIP MORRIS and NOVARTIS last week to lock in attractive funding costs for short-term debt. A deeply negative cross-currency basis swap is helping to make US dollar funding for European companies more attractive, particularly at the shorter end of the curve. "European corporates can save up to 30bp by issuing in US dollars at the three to five-year part of the curve and then swapping back to euros," one Europe-based banker said.