Banks

German supermarket chain Lidl has raised a £515m-equivalent loan from a consortium of Chinese and Taiwanese lenders for two of its European subsidiaries, in the company’s first outing in Asian capital markets.

LBBW has revealed that most investors in its latest green bond were signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. The novel disclosure offers a ‘more reliable’ way of describing green participation in new bond issues, according to the bank.

Czech lottery firm Sazka ventured into the euro high yield market again this week, issuing €300m of seven-year senior unsecured notes. The deal comes after Sazka made a successful debut in mid-November.

World Bank appointed banks for a December 2026 sterling bond on Monday. The issuer will be the third public sector borrower in the last week to access this part of the sterling curve in order to achieve a more attractive funding cost versus euros and dollars.

Telefonica, the Spanish telecommunications company, issued senior and hybrid bonds in euros on Monday. While it picked a horrendous day for markets for its offer, Telefonica still managed to pay small or negative price concessions relative to its secondary curve.

Romanian telecoms giant Digi issued an €800m bond this week, offering investors exposure to risky but fast-growing eastern European economies. Digi is joining the long list of companies taking advantage of exceptionally favourable refinancing conditions in European high yield.

Indorama Ventures, a petrochemicals company headquartered in Bangkok, has mandated banks to raise Schuldscheine via a European subsidiary, according to several people familiar with the situation. The deal is a further sign of the instrument’s growing popularity in East Asia.

Greece and France mandated banks on Monday for new benchmark offerings at the long end of the curve, the former bringing its longest bond since the eurozone debt crisis. The sovereigns are taking advantage of a sharp rally in core and peripheral eurozone sovereign yields, partially engendered by a flight to quality over the coronavirus scare.

Citi has appointed Carmen Haddad as its vice-chair for the Middle East. During her time as country officer of Saudi Arabia, the bank has been involved in some of that country’s most notable capital markets deals.

London-listed Warehouse REIT has signed a £220m loan, as the UK urban warehouse owner switches from bilateral to club borrowing. The deal will need to be revisited well before its five year tenor is up, as it is linked to the Libor benchmark that will essentially become obsolete for sterling trades after 2021.

Emerging market bond bankers were keeping their pipelines dry on Monday as fears about the new coronavirus stymied new issuance. But mandates still appeared, as Vodafone Ukraine signalled a roadshow for dollar bonds.

Lloyds Bank returned to the sterling covered bond market on Monday with its first deal of 2020. It capitalised on the scarcity of short-dated Sonia supply with the first three year bond from a UK issuer in six months, which helped it to price its deal marginally inside fair value.