DNB Bank

DNB Boligkreditt got the Nordic covered bond market off to a blistering start on Wednesday with a €2bn five year deal that leads were able to tighten by 5bp from initial guidance.

Banca Monte dei Paschi’s shares leapt 7% on Wednesday morning, on growing hopes that a way will be found for the Italian state to strengthen its balance sheet, enabling it to achieve a €5bn capital raising demanded by the European Central Bank and avoid a bail-in.

Tonight, Nordic Nanovector, the Norwegian developer of radio-immunotherapeutics for haematological cancers, is raising Nkr527m ($63m) to finance clinical trials, by placing new shares with institutional investors.

After almost two years away from the market, Thomas Cook opened a three day roadshow on Tuesday for a new euro deal, which will redeem its only sterling bond and portions of its 2020 euro notes.

The busy equity block trade action, widely predicted by ECM bankers when the US presidential election produced a bounce in share prices, has continued this week with a string of sales totalling over $1.5bn.

Shares in Petroleum Geo-Services, the Norwegian oilfield surveyor, closed 10% higher on Wednesday after the company completed a Nkr1.9bn ($225m) capital increase overnight, to strengthen its balance sheet.

The momentum in the equity block trade market since the US presidential election has continued this week, with nearly $1.4bn of issuance, as vendors rush to sell assets before the loss of US distribution for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

Cable company Com Hem has been sounding investors since Wednesday for a new issue in Swedish krona to redeem its old Skr2.5bn bonds due 2019, adding Swedish momentum to the Nordic corporate high yield bond market.

Shares in Ahlsell, the Swedish wholesaler of plumbing and electrical installation products, have traded strongly since its Skr6bn ($671m) Stockholm IPO, ending Thursday 13% above their IPO price.

A flurry of follow-on equity sales this week, mostly block trades, showed that investors still want stock, sometimes at tight discounts, even while three IPOs had to be abandoned.

Spain’s Banco de Crédito Social Cooperativo joined Italian duo Credito Emiliano (Credem) and Credito Valtellinese (Creval) in the tier two pipeline this week, as banks finally felt confident enough to launch new transactions after a tricky September.

Cabot Credit Management, the debt purchasing and recovery business, has amended its senior secured revolving credit facility and lowered the margin but kept the same group of lenders.