BNP Paribas

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.

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.

ABN Amro brushed aside concerns about the bid for long end paper on Wednesday, as it secured a tight spread on a 12 year deal in the euro market. It was joined by a couple of other banks targeting more conventional maturities.

A favourable move in the basis swap allowed the Province of Quebec to return to the Swiss franc market after seven years away this week, landing its latest bond at a spread flat to its domestic curve.

Belgian supermarket chain Louis Delhaize launched a Schuldschein on Tuesday afternoon, according to market sources, joining a band of retailers tapping the market this year.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond market had a distinctly Spanish flavour on Tuesday as Cellnex and Merlin Properties issued. Some analysts predict that the healthy earnings season might mean a 15% rise in bond issuance from the European market.

Bank borrowers returned to a stronger euro bond market on Tuesday, but deal arrangers warned of lingering concern over rates and inflation as KBC Group struggled to draw a crowd for a long-dated offering.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond market began this shortened week for issuance with an ESG focus, as Australian engineering company Worley mandated for its debut sustainability-linked bond and UK housing association Notting Hill Genesis began marketing a sustainability deal.

BNP Paribas has made two appointments to its global markets team in Asia Pacific.

Mondadori Group, the Italian book and magazine publisher, has signed €450m of loans from four banks, with the borrower slashing 25bp off the margin as competition to lend to mid-caps soars in Europe.