DNB Boligkreditt is launching a five year 144A dollar benchmark today (Wednesday) after ANZ yesterday priced a $1.25bn (Eu1.11bn, A$1.57bn) issue in the same maturity, with the dollar market offering an attractive option relative to the challenging euro market, according to bankers.

ANZ leads ANZ, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and RBC printed the Australian bank’s $1.25bn five year 144A issue at 37bp over mid-swaps, having launched with IPTs of the high 30s to 40bp area and set guidance of the 37bp area plus or minus 1bp.

“To print at 37bp is a strong result,” said a syndicate official at one of the leads, noting that a $1.5bn five year from Westpac had in March been priced at 41bp.

“They definitely beat that,” he said.

Seeing the Westpac March 2020s at 35bp, mid, the lead syndicate official estimated that the new issue offered a premium of 1bp. He added that the final spread was equivalent to around minus 2bp in euros, and, noting that ANZ 2019s in euros were at minus 3bp, said the new issue came flat to just inside the issuer’s euro curve.

A syndicate official away from the leads, also calculating that the new deal had priced roughly flat to the issuer’s euro curve, said more issuers would likely be considering tapping the dollar market.

“With the euro market still inactive it makes sense to go for dollars,” he said. “They could probably have done a euro deal yesterday, but it’d have been riskier and they’d have had to pay a premium.”

DNB Boligkreditt leads BAML, Barclays, HSBC and RBC have launched the Norwegian-bank’s dollar five year 144A issue with IPTs of the mid-swaps plus high 30s area.

A syndicate official away from the deal estimated that the new issue would print at least 2bp tighter than an equivalent euro trade, but suggested it was a strategic deal and that there was not a pricing advantage.

“These dollar deals are good news, because they show that while the euro market is quiet something can always be done in other currencies,” he said.

The last Nordic dollar benchmark was a $1bn five year for Swedbank Hypotek on 6 May at 37bp over mid-swaps, although that did not have 144A documentation.