Banks

European banks are trying to lock in funding at longer maturities as they consider whether credit spreads have reached a low point. But demand is less certain at the long end of the market, and some investors are pushing for a higher premium to reflect duration risk.

Kintor Pharmaceutical raised HK$1.17bn ($151m) on Wednesday from a top-up share placement, while a co-founder simultaneously trimmed his stake in the company.

The co-head of the EMEA debt capital markets centre at Bank of China in London has resigned.

Silicon wafer maker GlobalWafers raised $1bn this week from its debut in the equity-linked market, selling the largest convertible bond from a Taiwanese issuer in more than a decade.

Euroclear mistakenly credited investors with interest on one of UniCredit’s legacy capital deals this week, shortly after the Italian bank made a controversial decision to skip the coupon. The asset servicer is in the process of reversing its error.

Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, which tapped the loan market for a $7.2bn bridge loan last year to acquire retail giant Tesco’s Asia business, is now seeking covenant waivers on the fundraising. The move — which bankers say is triggered in part by CP’s plan to offload some of its newly-gained stake in Tesco — has hurt lenders’ confidence in the Thai conglomerate and raised questions around its strategy. Pan Yue reports.

SMBC Nikko has hired Markus Steilen as managing director and head of continental European debt syndicate, based in Frankfurt, as it expands its capital markets capabilities in the region.

The UK issued a £4bn index-linked Gilt maturing in 2039 on Tuesday, experiencing hot demand as investors flocked to secure protection from the threat of inflation.

AstraZeneca, the UK drug maker, hit the euro market on Wednesday after printing $7bn across the Atlantic a day earlier. The borrower is building up funds to pay for its $39bn acquisition of US rival Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Europe’s high grade corporate borrowers piled into the bond market on Wednesday to sell debt before the public holiday weekend in the UK. Investors showed no signs of indigestion on one of the busiest days of the year so far.

Hammerson, the UK property development company, launched a sustainability-linked bond through its Irish subsidiary on Wednesday, hoping to achieve a better cost of funds by printing a deal that was eligible for ECB buying. The still-nascent SLB market gave few comparables for the trade, leaving investors needing a range of metrics to try and determine fair value.

Polymetal, one of Russia’s largest gold producers, has added to its green debt by raising $400m from international lenders