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Achmea, the Dutch insurance holding company, has signed a €1bn sustainability-linked refinancing loan, in what one bank said was the first deal of its kind in the country's insurance sector.

The Asian Development Bank broke two records on Thursday as it printed its biggest sterling deal to date and took non-UK SSA issuance in the currency to a record level for a half year. Supply is likely to take a breather next week owing to some crucial Brexit votes in the UK Parliament, but SSA bankers are confident the market will not take long to spark back into life.

Public sector borrowers are set to enjoy yet more enviable funding conditions in euros, with central banks on an even more dovish path than before. At least one benchmark is in the pipeline for next week, while this week a core eurozone issuer sold its largest ever deal.

The $10.2bn debt package backing the buyout of Johnson Controls’ Power Solutions unit by Brookfield and CDPQ will set the tone for leveraged capital markets in the first half of 2019. But despite high hopes for more investor-friendly deal terms after successful buy-side resistance on last week’s loans, the Power Solutions covenants package sees the pendulum swing back again, writes Owen Sanderson.

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Ceva Santé Animale, a French company which develops vaccines and pharmaceuticals for animals, is preparing to raise a €2.15bn loan package to refinance and to pay a dividend.

Dollar SSA issuance is expected to pick up next week, thanks to a change in the euro/dollar basis swap that is making issuance in the currency more attractive for euro funders. There was still a smattering of dollar trades this week, including a Sofr-linked floater that broke new ground for the format.

Guarantor: Financial Market Stabilisation Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany

The European Central Bank struck a decidedly dovish tone at its meeting on Thursday, meaning there were no nasty surprises for SSAs planning bond issues in the coming days. A French agency is on screens for a deal in dollars this Friday, while euro and dollar benchmarks are slated for next week.

Pearson, the UK educational publisher, has signed a $1.2bn bank facility with a novel margin link to the company’s progress in educational reach, but loans bankers say that this increasingly popular form of funding is unlikely to drag the market out of its low volume melancholy.

The State of Qatar wowed the financial world on Wednesday with a $12bn three tranche deal that gathered a staggering $50bn of orders.

Indian energy company ReNew Power sealed a $375m bond sale on Tuesday with the help of a new, direct issuance structure. But although the notes were deemed to be more issuer-friendly than ReNew’s previous transaction, many were left puzzled by the borrower’s complicated approach to offshore fundraising. Morgan Davis reports.