Commerzbank

Two further Schuldschein deals at least doubled in size this week after Lonza's bumper earlier deal, as the market eclipsed its issuance level for the whole of 2016.

Inflammatory rhetoric between the US president and North Korea failed to disturb rates markets on Wednesday. FMS Wertmanagement on Wednesday brought a tightly priced deal that drew heavy central bank demand — although it fell “just a touch” under full subscription.

NRW.Bank racked up another tightly priced deal for the dollar SSA market on Tuesday, as FMS Wertmanagement prepared a trade that bankers expect to attract a similar central bank audience. Issuers are enjoying strong summer dollar conditions, with swap spreads stable and US Treasury spreads attractive for the buy-side.

Lonza, the Swiss pharmaceutical ingredients and dosing methods supplier, has closed an €870m-equivalent dual tranche Schuldschein loan, refinancing debt backing its acquisition of US drug capsules maker Capsugel.

Commerzbank booked all of the €807m restructuring costs associated with its 'Commerzbank 4.0' programme in the second quarter, pushing the bank to an overall loss of €406m. But the bank’s management are optimistic about the second half of the year, and argue that some of its businesses have turned a corner.

The Sfr2.3bn IPO of Landis & Gyr, the Swiss maker of energy meters, has been priced above the middle of its initial range at Sfr78, valuing the business at 10 times its 2018 forecast Ebitda.

Italian cement and concrete group Buzzi Unicem launched a debut €250m triple tranche Schuldschein, with half of the intended volume directed at its German subsidiary, Dyckerhoff.

The Polish subsidiary of Commerzbank, mBank, has published the base prospectus for its €3bn covered bond programme, suggesting it could be ready to start a marketing drive leading to its first euro-denominated publicly syndicated deal.

Bright Food launched a three year euro bond in Asia on Tuesday, setting initial guidance at 140bp over mid-swaps. The Chinese food and drink producer had roadshowed for a three or five year issue in Asia and Europe last week.

Rating: Aa1/AA/AA

Spiralling core eurozone government yields helped the European Financial Stability Facility pull off a cracking dual tranche trade this week, picking up a hefty €3.5bn at the long end. That led to speculation that other issuers could look to grab some long end funding before the summer — but with rates still rising and a weak French sovereign bond auction on Thursday, the window may have passed.

The European Financial Stability Facility on Tuesday enjoyed the rare treat of bringing a dual tranche trade that garnered more interest for the longer than the shorter leg. That result surprised bankers away from the deal — but one of the leads said it may have been due to real money investors taking a punt that the end of eurozone quantitative easing is further off than some of their peers think.