Deutsche Bank

German robotics maker Kuka has signed a refinancing facility, ramping up the size of its syndicated bank borrowing by €120m.

State owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn had a clear run at the euro investment grade corporate bond market on Thursday when it decided to sell its second bond of the year in the currency. The 15.5 year tenor the issuer opted for extended its existing debt curve.

A group of employees from Vincom Retail have raised Dong 4.51tr ($197.5m) after they sold a block of the company’s shares, upsizing the offer on the back of strong institutional demand.

Qatar National Bank has signed a $3.5bn loan with 21 international banks, showing that banks' jitters about supporting Qatari entities in the wake of the dispute between the sultanate and six other Arab states have partly been assuaged.

A buoyant January in equities markets has been followed by a difficult start to February, with the first IPOs out of a full pipeline seeing some issues in marketing just as stock markets tumble across the globe.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) gathered a €14bn book on Wednesday, easily covering its €3bn no-grow deal. The no-grow language, plus the pick-up to OATs it offered, likely helped demand, said bankers.

A pair of dollar deals on Wednesday showcased what bankers felt was a theme during a week with a volatile market backdrop, as a top tier name tightened pricing and was comfortably oversubscribed, while a second tier issuer was able to get a deal away but could not move in from price thoughts.

The €478m IPO of Instone Real Estate, the German home builder, is covered at its full size, less than four working days into the bookbuild.

A group of five banks has agreed to underwrite UK garages company EG Group’s $2.15bn purchase of US firm Kroger’s convenience store business, after the equity market wobbles this week failed to put a dent in the year’s M&A extravaganza.

The plunge in global stock prices has only caused the European investment grade corporate bond market to close for one day. On Wednesday, two pharmaceutical companies from different ends of the the ratings spectrum brought multi-tranche deals which attracted more than €9.5bn of combined demand.

Public sector borrowers are reaping the benefits of investors looking to “weather the storm” of wider market volatility, said bankers, as investors poured cash into short dated dollar issues this week. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Sweden are set to be the next issuers to benefit, after mandating for three year trades on Tuesday.

Global stock markets have been hit with volatility in recent trading sessions, but European primary leveraged finance markets had already slowed down as investor pressure grew around Algeco’s €1.4bn deal and UK retailer New Look’s performance.