Europe

The frenzy of investment grade corporate bond issuance in Europe intensified on Thursday, when eight companies came to market, issuing a total of €6.6bn of paper in euros. That brought the total for the first four days of this week to over €20bn. Despite the heavy supply, issuers have found sufficient demand to support their notes.

The UK is preparing to launch its second sukuk in early 2020, said city minister John Glen on Wednesday in a speech at an Islamic Finance Week event held at Mansion House.

Europe’s equity-linked market restarted with a bang this week, with more than €1.3bn of new supply. A scarcity of deals throughout this year and fears of a deteriorating economic outlook in the region are fueling a strong bid among investors for convertible bonds, particularly those issued by investment grade companies.

Beazley Insurance dac eschewed the sterling market to raise $300m of tier two capital in the dollar market this week, ending up with a trade that was four times subscribed by Reg S investors.

Swedish pension fund Första AP-fonden (AP1) has dismissed its chief executive Johan Magnusson in relation to him subscribing privately to the IPO of John Mattson Fastighetsföretagen, in which the fund was also participating.

The US private placement market is set to host its first gambling firm from the UK and Ireland this month. Paddy Power's PP could herald a stream of trades from the sector, but investors should beware the risks of herding into any old deal offered to them.

Two Russian steel companies have announced mandates and roadshows this week and look set to become the first corporates from the country to test the bond market since the latest round of US sanctions on their country in early August.

Credit Suisse has recruited a banker from Deutsche Bank to join its equity capital markets solutions origination team in Paris.

Volumes in other syndicated loan markets may be down, but bankers in the Schuldschein market have rather more to crow about. Derided though it may be for being antique and parochial, it has nonetheless managed to attract an impressive number of debut entrants this year and is set to break the record volumes of 2017.

Despite no deals coming on Thursday, improving conditions could see other FIG borrowers join CaixaBank, ANZ New Zealand and ASB Finance with senior bonds as soon as Friday, bankers believe..

A manic Wednesday night of block trades capped off a good week for ECM volume as sellers took advantage of a positive market environment.

Peter Kerckhoffs will join Moelis & Company in December to advise clients in the Netherlands and across Europe. JP Morgan has replaced him as senior country officer for that country with Cassander Verwey.