Austria

Cerberus Capital Management has sold more than half of its stake in Bawag, the Austrian banking group, via an accelerated bookbuild.

Pfandbriefe issued by Deutsche Pfandbriefbank on Wednesday and Hypo Tirol on Thursday struggled to find enough demand. Though spreads are not expected to widen, the deals showed investors are more discerning as uncertainty builds ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) asset purchases, which are due to commence in November.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB Noe Wien) found the euro primary market to be quiet but bullish this week, allowing it to launch a new senior unsecured bond at what lead managers saw as a fair pricing level.

Hypo Tyrol Bank mandated leads on Wednesday for a €500m seven year, to be launched on Thursday.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB Noe Wien) is looking to raise new senior unsecured funding, as bankers begin predicting a quieter period for supply in the euro market.

Corporate, FIG and SSA issuers placed floating rate notes this week, pegged to Euribor, Sonia and Libor. With so many issuers coming to market, bankers are interested to see which other borrowers 'take advantage of the liquidity'.

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank hit screens on Tuesday with its first ever sustainability bond, raising €500m with an eight year benchmark.

Deutsche Bank issued the most oversubscribed Pfandbrief since mid-July on Wednesday. The strong showing contrasted to Bawag, which competed less well for investors’ attention with a deal in the same tenor and with the same starting spread. The unconvincing Austrian outcome has caused some to question the market outlook and one borrower to postpone issuance.

A run of 10 year covered bond issuance looks set to continue through to Wednesday with Bawag and Deutsche Bank announcing plans for Pfandbrief transactions. Bankers on these deals are hopeful that order book momentum improves, but some are slightly concerned that investor fatigue may be setting in.

Hypo Noe and Prima banka Slovensko competed for investors’ attention with similar sized covered bonds in the same seven year tenor on Tuesday. The Austrian transaction was priced with barely any concession and the higher rated Slovakian transaction was the first debut deal to price with a negative yield and the first from Central and Eastern Europe with a negative yield.

Hypo Noe Landesbank fuer Niederoesterreich und Wien (Hypo Noe) has mandated lead managers for a seven year public sector backed covered bond.

Österreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB), Austria’s export credit agency, will go on roadshow next week to present its recently established sustainability bond framework to European investors. An inaugural bond in the format is expected to follow.