DNB Bank

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.

Millicom International Cellular, the emerging markets-focused telecoms group, is planning to issue its first sustainable bond. It published a Sustainability Bond Framework on Tuesday and will issue with a high yield rating.

DNB Bank dipped into the sterling market on Tuesday to raise £300m of preferred senior funding, less than a week after it issued the tightest-priced euro deal so far this year.

Erste Group was nearly 10 times subscribed for a €500m five year senior bond on Tuesday, with issuers enjoying extremely favourable conditions in the euro market.

The Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt issued its debut Norwegian krone bond on April 1. The treasury was pleased with a successful private placement that could open up a new funding market for Saxony-Anhalt.

Norway’s DNB Bank on Tuesday broke a record for the tightest pricing in preferred senior format so far this year, finding strong demand for a new transaction, despite market concerns about money laundering among Nordic financial institutions.