Spain’s La Caixa joins exchangeable rush

Spanish savings bank La Caixa this morning (Wednesday) priced a bond exchangeable into Criteria Caixacorp, the bank’s industrial investment arm. The bond was priced in the middle of the 3.25%-3.75% coupon range at 3.5% and the exchange premium was set at Eu5.66 for one share. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Société Générale were bookrunners on the transaction. The La Caixa issue highlights the prosperous state of Europe’s equity-linked market, after the deal size of the KfW exchangeable into Deutsche Telekom was increased by Eu300m to Eu3.3bn through the exercise of the greenshoe option. Read EuroWeek on Friday for full coverage.