Europe

The EMEA IPO market might soon be revving back into life with several issuers hoping to price deals before Easter. Investors are watching two multi-billion deals particularly closely: the spin-off of VW’s truck division Traton and the flotation of Italian payments company Nexi.

The State of North Rhine Westphalia will be able to issue floating rate notes linked to Sonia and Sofr under its new medium-term notes’ programme, which will be released in the next few months.

Pearson, the UK educational publisher, has signed a $1.2bn bank facility with a novel margin link to the company’s progress in educational reach, but loans bankers say that this increasingly popular form of funding is unlikely to drag the market out of its low volume melancholy.

The European Central Bank said on Thursday that it would launch a third series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO III) from September 2019, surprising market participants who expected the central bank to hold off on announcing the details of a new bank funding programme.

Two Turkish borrowers hit the market on Thursday, one returning to the market after a six year hiatus. Coming in the wake of a Koc Holding deal this week, the three deals make this Turkey’s busiest week for deals in almost three years.

Poland has released a draft capital markets development strategy, that aims to improve corporate governance, including at state-controlled firms, and foster a savings culture.

Bank of China paid a visit to the euro bond market on Wednesday, raising €500m through its Paris branch. It was just the latest Chinese financial institution to fund in the currency.

Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, may be facing what could be one of the biggest disruptions in its history, in the shape of Brexit, but its approach to the bond market on Tuesday was smooth. Having roadshowed last week, it glided in on the wave of credit demand and landed this year’s fourth corporate 15 year issue in euros.

Anglo American, the South African mining company now headquartered in London, returned to the sterling bond market after an 11 year absence on Wednesday, the day after an upgrade by Standard & Poor’s to BBB (stable), and two days after a parallel raise by Moody’s.

BMW issued its first Panda bond on Wednesday, raising Rmb3bn ($447m) in a deal that one of the lead managers hailed as a "milestone” in opening up China’s domestic bond market to foreign issuers.

Two emerging market borrowers familiar to investors returned to the Swiss franc market this week, injecting some geographical diversity into the sector.

Following the retirement of Robin Phillips, HSBC’s new head of global banking is well qualified to meet the challenge that has outlasted his ex-colleague, provided he can get his head around the bank’s unique structure, writes David Rothnie.