Siemens, Fortum join Europe’s corporate bond-deal dash

Bloomberg

Siemens AG and Fortum Oyj are both offering multipart euro bond deals, adding to a rush of corporate sales this year as companies lock in low borrowing costs before potential market upheavals.
German engineering giant Siemens is selling four notes maturing in as many as 20 years, while Finnish power company Fortum is offering three bonds as long as 10 years, according to separate people familiar with the sales, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak about the offerings publicly.
All the securities are fixed-rate notes.
Altria Group Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and Volkswagen AG’s bank arm have all sold four-part euro deals this year as investor appetite for high-grade notes and looming risks such as Brexit encourage companies to get deals done early in the year.
Investment-grade corporate sales across Europe are up almost 40 percent this year compared with last, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
Euro investment-grade spreads have narrowed 17 basis points this year to their tightest in three months, according to a Bloomberg Barclays index data, as slower economic growth damps concerns about interest rates. Yields on European bonds are around the lowest since July 2018, the data show.
The supportive market conditions have also been recognized by governments, with Cyprus, Egypt and France offering bonds in syndicated debt markets on Tuesday.