Euro

Permira opted to rescue its debt purchasing portfolio company Lowell from the restructuring that many thought was imminent, with the largest slug of equity support any sponsor has injected in Europe since the coronavirus pandemic began. Covid-19 has crushed cashflows for some debt purchasers, but next year should be a bumper year for NPL buying — for those firms with cash to do so, writes Owen Sanderson.

Italy and the Province of Québec will add to the euro public sector supply on Thursday, hoping to capitalise on the strong momentum in the currency following the European Union’s record order book earlier in the week.

Two public sector borrowers will follow the EU’s record breaking success in the euro market on Wednesday, with Agence Française de Développement looking to sell its debut bond under its new framework tied to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Greece tapping its 2035s.

Deal arrangers say the euro market is wide open for the return US bank issuance, following a very successful trade from Bank of America this week.

China Development Bank (CDB) raised nearly $3bn from dollar and euro bonds on Monday, appealing to investors due to its rarity in the debt market.

Republic of Austria

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

It was a moderate week for supply in the primary euro public sector bond market but the issuers that did come found ample demand, setting up a decent backdrop for the expected arrival of the European Union’s big borrowing programme next week.

Austria built a large order book as it came to the market for its final syndication of the year on Thursday, ahead of the expected arrival of the European Union as a mega borrower next week.

The Republic of Austria picked banks to lead a new 20 year euro benchmark on Wednesday, while the European Stability Mechanism surprised some market participants by sounding out banks for a deal next week, which could clash with the EU’s grand arrival as a supersized issuer.

KfW and Ville de Paris grabbed the attention of investors at the opposite ends of the euro curve on Tuesday in what has been a thin week for issuance in the currency by public sector borrowers ahead of the expected arrival of the EU’s first syndicated bond under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme next week.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, October 12. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services