BNP Paribas

Lai Sun Garment (International) is hitting the road this week for its inaugural offshore renminbi bond. The Hong Kong company is looking to venture into a market that has already generated a record volume of deals.

French ingredients company Naturex signed €320m of loan agreements on Thursday, part of which will be used to finance its acquisition of US company Vegetable Juices.

Scentre, the new Australian listed property company that holds the Westfield Group’s Australian and New Zealand shopping centres, issued its first bonds on Tuesday, and turned to the European market. Despite a weak day, it exceeded its target of €2bn, finding strong demand for a rare four tranche issue in euros and sterling.

Europe’s corporate bond market was knocked sideways on Thursday by a gust of fear about peripheral Europe, after problems deepened at Portugal's Banco Espírito Santo. The market has not shut down, but ACS, the Spanish construction company, pulled a deal and no issuer managed to price tighter than its initial thoughts.

Private healthcare group Générale de Santé will hold a bank meeting this week for a €1.1bn loan to back its takeover by Ramsay Santé.

The US investment grade corporate bond market endured a rare day of zero issuance on Thursday as a market sell-off triggered by the troubles of Portugal’s Banco Espírito Santo kept borrowers at bay.

Italian defence contractor Finmeccanica has signed a €2.2bn revolving credit facility, €200m smaller than the 2010 facility being refinanced.

European banks are so anxious to comply with US sanctions law that in some cases, they are interpreting the rules more strictly than US banks, and even occasionally losing business by it, several bankers said this week. Jon Hay and Michael Turner report.

Fjord Line — Det Norske — Volvo

Nationwide on Tuesday became the third British financial institution to offer a three year floating rate note (FRN) in covered format this year. Looking to harness the remnants of the momentum it built in the market during its dual tranche euro deal at the end of last month, the building society’s deal was more oversubscribed than the other two similar deals done this year — from Abbey and Lloyds Bank — which were priced in January.

Zurich Insurance cast a wide net to catch as many investors as possible with its first senior Swiss franc print of 2014 on Tuesday, offering three tranches to sell a total Sfr600m ($670.8m) of fixed and floating rate notes.

French hotel chain B&B Hotels has allocated a €175m senior secured loan that will refinance existing debt.