Deutsche Bank

German chemicals supplier Lanxess found a surprising lack of demand for its first bond issue since September 2016, which sent bankers scrambling to re-examine their plans for next week's burgeoning corporate pipeline. Lanxess's struggle comes as new issue premiums and how far deals tighten through the bookbuild are being increasingly scrutinised as the market begins to imagine life in the European corporate bond market without the safety net of quantitative easing. Nigel Owen reports.

A long-awaited civil settlement with the US Department of Justice this week could prove to be a boon for Royal Bank of Scotland, which has had the risk of heavy fines looming over it for some time.

Germany’s vibrant M&A market is failing to provide the lift that Deutsche Bank needs in its home market, writes David Rothnie.

Barclays has continued to beef up its corporate broking presence, a central plank of its UK growth strategy, by recruiting Deutsche Bank’s former head of corporate broking.

On Wednesday, German chemicals supplier Lanxess found a surprising lack of demand for its first corporate bond issue since September 2016. Onlookers suggested this is was not a good sign with a heavy pipeline building for future weeks.

On Wednesday, US car manufacturer Ford’s finance arm followed its recent trend in using the euro corporate market to fund itself in floating rate note format. The company kept its tenors short with a pair of FRNs, but found investors had a preference the shorter option.

Commodities trader Trafigura Group Pte. will meet Swiss investors next Tuesday to discuss an inaugural Swiss franc bond.

The IPOs of two Turkish retailers, Beymen and DeFacto, were cancelled at the end of last week, after failing to attract enough demand to cover the shares on offer. A third IPO, Şok Marketler, was extended to Wednesday May 9. All three were seeking to list in Istanbul.

After four years away from the high yield market, UK North Sea operator Ithaca Energy was back with a bond refinancing deal this week, as European oil and gas issuance runs well ahead of last year’s pace.

Covered bond deals issued on Tuesday by Deutsche Bank and Hypo Oberösterreich offered concessions of less than 2bp, illustrating that spreads have stabilised. With supply likely to remain low over the next few weeks, the more supportive backdrop should persist.

Real estate developer Vinhomes priced its D30.7tr ($1.35bn) listing at the top of guidance on Monday in Vietnam’s largest equity offering to date, according to a banker on the transaction.

Chinese property developer Kaisa Group Holdings has tapped Edward Lau Fu Keung, a former Deutsche Bank employee, as its chief financial officer.