DNB Bank

Issuance is starting to resume after the summer break; however, this week a booming public market drew away investor and issuer attention from MTNs. Despite this, a range of established SSA, FIG and corporate borrowers have slipped in, with deals across core, niche and EM currencies.

KfW brought its revamped green framework to the Norwegian krone market to print a deal on Tuesday. Later that week, strong demand from domestic and international investors let the issuer increase the note to a record breaking size, printing the largest Nokkie green bond across any asset class.

Volumes are growing across the spectrum in the Scandinavian MTN markets, as issuers and bankers return from their summer holidays. Meanwhile, bankers are expecting Scandinavian investors to move further out along the credit curve in response to negative yields as dovish Nordic central bank tones could lead to a bullish Scandinavian market.

Borr Drilling Ltd, the Norwegian oil and gas drilling services company, has completed its secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Raising $46.5m of fresh capital and diversifying its shareholder register following a $645m debt refinancing in June.

Three Nordic banks and one British bank placed paper in Swedish krona this week. NatWest Markets made its debut in the currency, while Scandinavian-based Avida Finans printed its first AT1. Avida Finans plans to follow this debut AT1 with a future stock exchange listing.

Three SSA borrowers issued a total of £200m ($255m) of medium-term notes in response to an inquiry for three year non-call one fixed rate sterling bonds on Tuesday — which probably all sold to the same buyer — amid an uptick of paper in the currency.

This week is set to be busy in Europe's investment grade corporate bond market, despite yet another dead day on Monday because of public holidays. Equities rose on Monday and sentiment is good; market participants have decided they are comfortable with what they got from the European Central Bank on Thursday.

While four new issuers were squeezing into the euro corporate bond market on Wednesday, Norwegian Property, an unrated real estate investment company, slipped a Nkr950m (€97m) three tranche deal into the market.

Bayport, the Mauritius-based microfinance company, issued the first African ESG bond outside the supranational sector, printing a $260m three year at 11.5% on Wednesday, and obtaining a social bond second opinion from Sustainalytics, at the suggestion of arranger DNB Markets.

The recent redemption of a Norwegian government bond has led to an increase in Nordic currency issuance this week, according to one MTN banker. The European Investment Bank and KfW tapped these released funds to raise a combined Nkr1.5bn ($171.2m).

Norkse Skog, the Norwegian paper manufacturer subject to one of the bloodiest restructurings in European high yield this decade, is ready to test the market again, just over a year after Christopher Gate’s Oceanwood Capital Management took over the troubled company.

Thomas Cook bonds traded down more than 12 points on Thursday in heavy volume, as the UK holidays group announced a new first-ranking loan for the winter season, a big goodwill writedown that took its pre-tax loss to £1.4bn, and a big drawdown on its revolving credit facility.