Commerzbank

French postal operator La Poste saved the corporate bond market in Europe from registering a blank week when it sold its first green bond last Friday. On Wednesday, Deutsche Post followed its peer’s lead by announcing a deal with the same tenor.

Defensive formats and short maturities found favour among FIG issuers this week, with new senior offerings from ABN Amro and Commerzbank. But there was no doubting that new issue premiums remain high in the euro market.

The last posting date for Christmas tends to coincide with the closing of the euro corporate bond market. Ahead of that coincidence this year, two postal companies have sold new bonds, after Deutsche Post followed La Poste of France’s lead.

Private equity firms Bain Capital and Cinven are financing their purchase of a further 28.3% stake in Stada Arzneimittel, the German pharmaceutical group, in the euro leveraged finance markets this week, and are having to contend with investors who are in a risk-averse mood.

French car parts supplier Faurecia has launched a Schuldschein expected to reach a size around €400m to €500m, as attractive euro and dollar spread ranges are planted to attract a wide group of lenders.

Commerzbank proved less popular than some of its peers with a new offering of short dated preferred senior debt this week, but the German lender was able to walk away from the euro market with €1.4bn of funding.

Private school operator Cognita was the first borrower in a week to attempt an issue in the euro high yield market with a sub-benchmark size deal. It sought funding for its acquisition by Jacobs Holding, the Swiss investment and charitable firm, but pulled the bond deal after weak demand.

Technological innovation is dramatically disrupting society at every level, and financial services are no different. It is impossible to predict how technology will evolve, but the most successful banks will be the ones that adapt to become technology companies themselves, says Michael F. Spitz, CEO of Main Incubator, the research and development unit of Commerzbank.

BNP Paribas has hired a senior German coverage banker from Commerzbank.

Building materials company Knauf has signed a €4bn-equivalent underwritten debt package to go towards its purchase of US peer USG Corp, as lenders continue to reap the rewards of Germany’s booming M&A market.

Supranationals found heavy demand from investors for privately placed taps of outstanding dollar and euro notes over the past week, with Asian Development Bank printing particularly heavy volumes.

UK hotel group InterContinental’s debut euro deal was the smallest of three new corporate bond deals on Thursday after Wednesday saw no new issuance. While Allergan and BMW sold multi-tranche deals, IHG’s deal had been well flagged and still received due attention from investors.