Barclays

Underwriters of Banca Carige’s €500m rights issue were jubilant on Thursday, when the results of the deal showed it had attracted about €200m of demand in the open market — almost exactly the amount needed for the banks to avoid having to buy shares, and underlining that the Italian lender has been rescued in an orderly way by private sector investors, a first in recent Italian history, writes Jon Hay.

The year's total issuance of triple-C rated bonds in the European high yield market jumped from €4bn to more than €6bn this week. Many believe this could be the last week to bring new deals in 2017.

The likely return of a rare sovereign issuer next week will break the silence in an otherwise quiet market for SSAs in euros, after there were just a smattering of German Lander trades this week. Meanwhile, investors believe that the rising interest rate cycle in the US could have a knock-on benefit for euro borrowers.

The euro high yield pipeline unveiled a battery of deals this week, six of them with ratings below double-B. The largest came from French frozen food retailer Picard Surgelés, which will refinance over €1bn of existing debt and pay a dividend to its private equity sponsors.

Repricings and refinancings have dominated this year’s leveraged loan issuance. This week, Apcoa added one more such deal. But investors proved they can still discriminate, as House of HR had to sweeten the terms of its new refinancing loan.

Indonesian power producer Paiton Energy sweetened the dual-tranche bond and loan combo it sold in August by adding a $100m tap to the bonds this week, extending its debt maturity profile.

Shares in Sabre Insurance, the specialist UK car insurer, rose 13% this week after it priced a £287m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The Republic of Iceland looks set to bring its first syndication in over three years before the year end, after mandating banks on Wednesday to run a euro trade.

Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) made a rare appearance in the dollar bond market on Tuesday, and its first green issue appealed to international investors.

Investor support for leveraged loan deals where the issuer is only seeking to cut margins remains so strong that some borrowers, such as French real estate group Foncia, may do it twice this year.

Indonesian power producer Paiton Energy returned to the international debt market on Monday to add another $100m to its August bonds, in a bid to extend its debt maturity profile.

A $575m loan for Twin Star Mauritius, a subsidiary of mining company Vedanta Resources, has attracted two commitments since its launch into general syndication in September. But the deal remains open to participants with a few more lenders expected to chip in, said two bankers close to the matter.