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L‘Oréal SA is selling $1 billion of investment-grade notes on Tuesday — the makeup company’s first time borrowing in the US corporate bond market.
The cosmetics giant is selling a 10-year deal yielding 0.63 percentage point above Treasuries, according to a person familiar with the matter. Initial pricing called for a spread in the area of 0.9 percentage point above the benchmark, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private details.
The company has issued euro-denominated debt before, having last come to market in October with a €1.25 billion ($1.40 million) two-part deal.
L‘Oréal‘s bond sale is one of seven in the US high-grade market on Tuesday, marking a relatively busy issuance day after Monday’s 16-deal deluge.
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The softer US inflation figures paved the way for Tuesday’s issuers, providing a constructive backdrop with a key measure of credit risk narrowing. Companies had typically avoided selling debt on the same day as major economic releases as they can spark volatility and disrupt sales processes. However, windows of opportunity to issue this year have been more limited due to tariff-related turmoil, pushing borrowers to seize any risk-on moments more readily than before.
Tuesday’s slate of sales comes after 16 companies raised nearly $19 billion of high-grade debt Monday — more than half this week’s projected issuance. Borrowers paid little to negative new-issue concessions for well-oversubscribed deals, capitalising on robust demand from positive-tariff headlines while also getting ahead of Tuesday’s CPI report.
L‘Oréal‘s bonds are expected to be rated Aa1 by Moody’s Ratings and AA by S&P Global Ratings. BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley are bookrunners on the sale.
By Ethan M Steinberg
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