Deals
Cigna, Akzo Shake Debt Markets From Summer Lull to Fund M&A
- Deals fuel boom in bond and leveraged-loan issuance globally
- Blackstone financing for Thomson Reuters unit to lead month
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A $2 trillion global acquisition spree is giving way to an issuance bonanza in debt markets.
Cigna Corp. tapped bankers to arrange investor meetings to finance its takeover of pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co. That comes during a week in which underwriters are estimating companies could issue as much a $55 billion of U.S. investment-grade debt, an amount that would make this week the year’s busiest. Meanwhile, bankers in the U.S. and Europe are marketing the biggest leveraged-loan deal of 2018 to fund Blackstone Group LP’s buyout of Thomson Reuters Corp.’s financial-and-risk operations.