Europe

Prisa, the Spanish media conglomerate that owns El País, has agreed to acquire full control of educational publisher Santillana and will finance the deal with a €200m rights offer.

Crédit Agricole attracted strong demand for its larger than usual public sector backed covered bond on Thursday, with the strong take-up in stark contrast to its previous issue.

SSP, the UK food and drinks retail operator, has sold US private placements (US PP) via Barclays and Bank of America. Pricing was similar to its PP debut last year, market participants said, which is a sign that, for the right UK credit, the market remains stable amid the Brexit storm.

Demand for Ireland-based aircraft leasing company Avolon's unsecured loan took off, allowing it to sign the deal at $500m this week, as the company attempts to gain an investment grade rating.

Vakifbank is taking orders for a five year dollar bond — its first benchmark deal in more than a year.

Bank of Georgia is in the market with its first ever additional tier one bond on Thursday, offering a generous yield but keeping the size down.

Russia is back in the capital markets, opening books for a new dollar deal with the unusual tenor of 16 years, as well as tapping its December 2025 euro benchmark.

An outburst of activity in the financial institutions bond market was punctuated by a pause for reflection in the middle of the week, but Nykredit Realkredit was leading a return to supply on Thursday as DCM officials rejoiced at signs of more support for credit markets from the US Federal Reserve.

The final text of the Covered Bond Directive was approved on Wednesday and will go to the European Parliament in Strasbourg for a final vote in mid-April.

Despite a slight softness in the European corporate bond market at the end of Tuesday, Wednesday brought another strong deal. CNH Industrial, the agricultural machinery and lorries group backed by the Agnelli family, issued an eight year bond that was increased to €600m.

Two accelerated bookbuild transactions hit screens on Tuesday night, in Italian skiing jacket brand Moncler and Total, the French oil and gas company.

Continental launched a Schuldschein on Wednesday and, judging by the arranging banks, market participants believe the German tyres and car parts group has its eye on German co-operative and savings bank investors.