Banks

Few MTN issuers have so far issued in the Libor-replacing euro short term rate (€STR) format, with deals limited so far to supranationals, agencies and, this week, a sub-sovereign. Some bankers blame the 2017 EU Prospectus Directive for tightening up the rules on adding new indices to programmes, leaving non-exempt issuers on the sidelines.

Jes Staley’s strategy has been vindicated, with Barclays’s corporate finance bankers having a banner year. But it has to invest in its European franchise to cement its credentials as the region’s leading investment bank, says David Rothnie.

DBV Technologies, the French biopharmaceuticals company that specialises in treating allergies, has successfully completed a $153m growth capital raise, despite market volatility earlier in the week owing to fears over the spread of corona virus in Asia.

Elenia, the Finish electricity distribution company, opened books for a €500m no-grow seven-year bond on Thursday, its first issue since Standard & Poor’s upgraded it to BBB+ in November.

The Gabonese Republic has released price guidance on its first benchmark Eurobond since 2015.

Vakifbank printed its $750m 5.25% 2025s on Wednesday from a book that reached higher than $4.3bn at its peak, but the note was seen below re-offer in London’s secondary market on Thursday morning.

JP Morgan has hired William Vereker, former global co-head of investment banking at UBS and business envoy to former UK prime minister Theresa May, to be vice-chairman for investment banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Banco Santander included a small premium in the pricing for its latest non-preferred senior bond this week, as the bank looked ahead to a busy year for issuance in the asset class.

France's Saint-Gobain has met the shareholder and regulatory needs for its around €1.3bn purchase of US plasterboard company Continental Building Products, as the acquisitive construction materials company gets the thumbs up from ratings agencies for swerving the debt markets to fund the deal.

BW Offshore, the Norwegian operator of floating oil storage vessels, has fixed a price range for the Nkr1.659bn ($187m) listing of its exploration and production unit BW Energy on the Oslo Børs.

Austria's new benchmark was over 10 times covered on Wednedsay, making the sovereign the latest in a string of its peers to receive a record order book for a syndicated bond this year.

French fashion house Isabel Marant made its high yield bond debut this week with a €200m dividend recap deal.