Denmark

FSN Capital, the Northern European private equity firm, sold its remaining 6.23% stake in Danish IT services firm Netcompany, after market close with no need to offer a discount to investors.

Investors flocked to Nordic and Canadian covered bonds issued this week by DNB Boligkreditt, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and National Bank of Canada, perhaps reflecting a view that their spreads are well positioned to withstand the European Central Bank’s withdrawal from covered bond market.

Danske Bank is waiting until activist investor Bill Browder gives a press conference before deciding whether to proceed with the sale of a senior non-preferred bond. News of the conference derailed the deal on Wednesday, after final terms and a $3bn size had already been set.

Danish logistics company Maersk opted to please all of its investors who tendered bonds as part of the company’s recent liability management exercise when it announced on Tuesday that it had increased the total amount it would buy back.

Public sector agencies from the Nordic region are adapting to S&P Global Ratings’ overhaul of its rating methodology. So far, only KommuneKredit has been downgraded under the new rating criteria, but others could suffer similar fates.

Ireland and Denmark have outlined their funding needs for next year, with both sovereigns looking to raise similar amounts to 2018.

Danish logistics company Maersk gave investors something other than political and economic matters to consider this week when it announced a tender offer for its shortest dated euro bonds on Monday. If the current poor tone in the bond markets continues into 2019, this type of exercise could become more prevalent, writes Nigel Owen.

Danish logistics company Maersk gave investors something other than political and economic matter to consider this week when it announced a tender offer for its shortest dated euro bonds on Monday.

Nykredit returned to the euro covered bond market on Thursday to issue its second floating rate transaction. The oversubscription rate was similar to other recent deals, but well below that for its debut deal, when market conditions were much stronger.

The EMEA equity blocks market enjoyed a second night of momentum of Thursday after the results of the US midterm elections kicked off trading this week, with two large transactions being priced.

Netcompany, the Danish IT service firm, increased the size of a block trade on Wednesday night and then saw the stock trade well in the aftermarket.

Adform, the Danish advertising technology company, will brave difficult markets to list on Nasdaq Copenhagen this November.