Deutsche Bank

Financial institutions have ramped up their sales of green debt at the start of 2021, as they look to take advantage of a quiet funding year by building out their environment, social and governance frameworks. This week, nearly all FIG euro issuance arrived in ESG formats.

Indiabulls Housing Finance has sold India’s first international convertible bond in more than a year, spurring interest from other companies struggling to raise funds in the country’s domestic market. But potential issuers will have to deal with a lot of regulatory hurdles, writes Jonathan Breen.

Equinix, the US data centre real estate investment trust, got a slightly larger size than expected for its dual tranche euro green bond on Wednesday, but its curve steepened.

Environment, social and governance (ESG) themed debt has dominated the senior market this week, with the format helping to secure more execution certainty in a softer trading environment.

Vantage Towers, the telecoms towers unit of Vodafone, has launched its long-awaited flotation on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, having announced its intention to float on Wednesday.

Indiabulls Housing Finance has brought a rare Indian convertible bond to the market, raising $150m after increasing the size of its debut offering.

NatWest Group sold the first social housing bond from a UK financial issuer on Tuesday, attracting a highly granular peak order book of over €4.5bn. Investors have latched onto environment, social and governance (ESG) linked bank supply over the past few weeks, with two more labelled deals set to follow in the coming days.

China Aoyuan Group had to pay up to sell a $350m bond on Monday, as investors demanded compensation for the property company’s low rating and the deal’s long tenor.

US high grade corporate names hit the European market at the outset this week with WP Carey and General Motors selling bonds and Equinix mandating for a green deal. But syndicate bankers say rising US rates are still some way off the sweet spot to make the euro market irresistible for all Reverse Yankee issuers.

Shares in Lakestar Spac I, a new special purpose acquisition company backed by German venture capitalist Klaus Hommels, have surged by more than 11% in the aftermarket after they began trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Monday.

Lakestar Spac I, a new special purpose acquisition company backed by German venture capitalist Klaus Hommels, has priced its IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, raising €275m.

There were flashbacks to last month’s Spanish syndication in the bond market this week as Italy made an emphatic start to the Draghi era in the BTP market. The borrower shed billions of orders on Tuesday after aggressively pricing its first syndication since the appointment of the ex-ECB chief as the country’s prime minister. Burhan Khadbai reports.