Lafarge highlighted the challenges and advantages of accessing the US bond market when it sold a $2 billion debut deal in July, split into $600 million, $800 million and $600 million tranches of, respectively, five, 10 and 30 years.
Once the benefits of the US market’s liquidity were indisputable but over the past few years the heightened regulatory oversight has reduced its attractions; at the same time the European investor base has deepened. Only the larger financial issuers are regularly crossing the Atlantic these days; Lafarge is a relatively unusual case.
“It’s a market where there is a very big level of liquidity but with the advantage vis-à-vis the euromarket that it offers for an issuer...
