BNP Paribas

Pirelli, the Italian tyre maker, has revved up the year's loan market business with a €1bn facility signed last week, that the company said was three times oversubscribed.

Demand was robust for floating rate paper on Tuesday as Commonwealth Bank of Australia sold its first deal of 2015 and Caisse Centrale Desjardins du Quebec (CCDJ) returned to the senior unsecured euro market after an absence of almost five years.

After the extraordinary fireworks of Santander’s €7.5bn block trade on Thursday January 8, the year’s more workaday business in European equity capital markets began in earnest on Monday, as five IPOs were launched.

GE Capital issued an €850m five year floating rate note and a €1bn seven year fixed rate bond on Monday, bringing total public issuance by the company so far this year to over $7.1bn.

Telecom Italia, Italy’s largest telecommunications operator, on Monday brought to the high yield market the first €1bn issue of the year, as part of a plan to repay slices of four other bonds.

Eurofins Scientific, the French food and drugs testing company, has mandated three banks for an investor roadshow that could lead to a senior unsecured bond.

Two more issuers built on a strong start to the year for euro-denominated floating rate notes on Monday, as UniCredit sold a five year bond and BNP Paribas opted for a two year tenor for its second FRN of the year. UniCredit was able to draw solid demand for its deal, despite printing at an aggressive level compared to its fixed rate curve.

Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels has wrapped up syndication of a $250m three year term loan with a group of five banks.

The Epiphany holidays in Europe on Tuesday may have disrupted the issuance calendar for the week, but that didn’t stop issuers from printing over €15.5bn of senior unsecured debt in just two days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Westpac successfully priced the first euro-denominated covered bond of the year on Thursday amid hopes that it will set a positive tone for next week — which is expected to be the busiest of the year. But with confidence still lacking following a string of underperforming deals issued at end of last year, there is still some trepidation that the supply glut will cause a further re-pricing.

The Republic of Turkey re-opened the CEEMEA bond market in 2015 on Wednesday with a $1.5bn tap of its 2043s. Turbulence across EM and falling oil prices played to Turkey’s favour with the bond offering a haven to nervous investors. But as a result of the recent volatility, the country paid a decent new issue premium, bringing in a $5bn book.

BNP Paribas is six months away from finalising its acquisition of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s equity derivatives business, according to Nicolas Marque, global head of equity derivatives at BNP Paribas in London.