Europe

A cavalcade of “familiar names” have come to the market over the last week. SSAs, corporates and FIG issuers printed across the euro curve, while a trio of supranationals were also active in emerging market currencies.

UBS’s investment bank had a mixed performance in the second quarter, with advisory and underwriting performance defying expectations to rise by some way, while trading revenues fell, the bank showed in its results on Tuesday.

As Turkish bank borrowers prepare to refinance existing debt, a plethora of domestic and geopolitical troubles has once again brought pricing into question. Though secondary market spreads remain tight, bankers say primary issuance could widen.

Sirius is trekking the globe marketing a $500m senior secured note that is key to unlocking a $2.5bn revolver and $400m in convertible bonds. The financing will be used for a gigantic fertiliser mine in Yorkshire, UK. The coupon for the bond is expected to hit the double digits, making it one of the highest yielding issues of the year.

FedEx has returned to the euro market for the second time in 2019. Having issued a €640m 3.3 year back in January, the Baa2/BBB US logistics company printed a €1bn six and 12-year dual-tranche on Monday. After a drop in reverse Yankee issuance last year, the euro market has proven attractive to US issuers this year, with a steady stream of deals through the first half of 2019.

German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen, which issued the largest ever Schuldschein in late 2015, is set to make a grand return to the market this year.

KfW picked banks on Monday for its first green bond in sterling since July 2015, as it increases the volume of its green bonds under its new framework.

Italian manufacturer Industria Macchine Automatiche (I.M.A) has raised €50m of Euro private placement notes (Euro PP).

Polish convenience store operator Żabka Polska is expected to close its dividend recap imminently, according to market participants. Bankers have compared the deal to the dividend recap transaction that Polish e-commerce platform Allegro completed in May.

Alcentra, a European subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon, has raised €5.5bn for a new private debt fund, a fundraising that puts it alongside Ares Capital and BlueBay Asset Management in securing giant commitments to deploy to Europe’s mid-market borrowers.

With yields at all-time lows and spreads continuing to fall, it is difficult to find value in covered bonds. But with supply drying up and further stimulus from the European Central Bank on the way, there are some overlooked parts of the market which ought to perform, traders say.

The State of North Rhine Westphalia mandated banks on Monday for a 30 year euro benchmark, ahead of a highly anticipated European Central Bank meeting later in the week, in which analysts expect the central bank to hint at a rate cut in September.