Europe

Danish wind farm operator European Energy has increased the size of its debut euro-denominated green bond, from the originally targeted €120m to €140m, on demand of more than €230m. The deal is one of only a handful of high yield issues to claim formal sustainability status, as ethical investment strategies gather pace in more corners of the capital markets.

Coventry Building Society did well to raise €500m of seven year funding with demand of €1bn on Thursday, but bankers warned that investors are close to reaching their limits on UK exposure, and the next issuer cannot expect the same result.

Marks & Spencer has completed its £601m equity capital raising to fund a transformational join-venture with Ocado, following a rights issue and rump share placement

Rabobank attracted good demand for a dual €2bn eight year and 20 year covered bond offering on Thursday, even though the deal was issued at the tail-end of a busy week and competed for investors’ attention in euros with Coventry Building Society and Všeobecná úverová banka (VUB).

Georgian TBC Bank printed its long-awaited $300m five year bond on Wednesday from a book of over $700m.

Commerzbank, Jyske Bank and UBI Banca all issued €500m senior non-preferred bonds with five year maturities on Thursday. But Jyske opted for a more flexible and efficient note, callable four years after its issuance date.

Ukraine has released initial price guidance for a euro deal that the country has been waiting to print since before Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential victory in April.

Lloyds Banking Group found room to tighten pricing by 50bp for a new additional tier one (AT1) this week, though investors are having to second guess what a new prime minister in the UK might mean for the country’s approach to Brexit. At the same time Barclays added to its recent activity in the subordinated bond market, opening books on a tier two on Thursday.

Electrocomponents, an industrial and electronics distributor headquartered in London, has entered the US private placement market to refinance existing notes, according to sources in the market.

The long-awaited London-Shanghai Stock Connect faced its first test this week as Huatai Securities went on the road with its sale of global depository receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange. More issuers could follow as mainland investors hunt for opportunities to use their offshore capital, said market participants. Jonathan Breen and Aidan Gregory report.

It's not often a €1.75bn deal from Volkswagen Leasing is overshadowed in the corporate bond market, though that was the case on Wednesday with Berkshire Hathaway's £1.75bn 20 and 40 year stormer. But Berkshire left euros clear for Volkswagen - it only had Bright Food of China to compete with.

There was high demand for dollar SSA paper as Kommunalbanken (KBN) printed at its tightest ever spread against the US Treasuries on Wednesday. Meanwhile the Province of Ontario has mandated for its own benchmark transaction.