Oil giants display depth of demand for top-rated credit

摘要

Two oil majors vying for market attention with top-rated bonds proved last week that the ferocious bid for minimum risk credit is still able to rival that for higher yielding bonds. shell and total both printed 12-year euro bonds, while the former opted to price a seven-year tranche simultaneously, capitalising on investors' strong demand that was fuelled by the rarity of the company in primary corporate bond markets. Traditionally a US dollar issuer, Shell had not tapped the euro market since May 2009 - almost half a decade ago. Total, rated Aal/AA, was first out of the blocks, choosing to extend its existing euro curve with a March 2021 offering on Tuesday through Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and H5BC. It set initial price thoughts in the mid-swaps plus 60bp area and official guidance at 55bp-60bp, before fixing at the tight end for a €850m deal on a €1.8bn book.