Europe

Berenberg has made a swathe of redundancies in its equities division this week, especially in its London research staff, including the cutting of all or nearly all analysts covering several sectors.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia rounded out the week’s euro issuance with an oversubscribed 10 year euro deal that was priced 1bp inside guidance.

BMW Finance found no reduction in the demand for its paper, despite its new issue on Thursday being its fourth dual-tranche deal of the year. The company has sold at least €1.75bn during each previous quarter of 2018, and it hit that mark again with its shortest combination of tenors.

A feasibility study on prospective issuance of European Secured Notes (ESN) — a dual recourse structure that works like a covered bond — suggests good potential for demand but limited scope for supply. Even so, setting up a legislative framework is probably a good idea as circumstances may change, the study has concluded.

UK hotel group InterContinental’s debut euro deal was the smallest of three new corporate bond deals on Thursday after Wednesday saw no new issuance. While Allergan and BMW sold multi-tranche deals, IHG’s deal had been well flagged and still received due attention from investors.

AJ Bell, the UK investment platform, has launched a well-flagged IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Netcompany, the Danish IT service firm, increased the size of a block trade on Wednesday night and then saw the stock trade well in the aftermarket.

Utility company Snam has converted an existing €3.2bn revolving credit facility into a sustainable deal, joining the growing chorus of southern European firms switching their bank lines for environmental, social and governance-friendly financing alternatives.

Ireland’s Applegreen has signed €300m of loans to finance its acquisition of more than half of motorway service operator Welcome Break, topping off a fund raising round that also saw a share placement.

Spanish banks won out this week after a series of conflicting statements from the courts and the government finally led to clarity on who should be liable for paying stamp duty on mortgage loans.

A strong order book allowed ING to raise €1.5bn on Thursday with the euro leg of its first ever green holdco bond — a size that was twice as large as any other financial institution has so far achieved with an unsecured green transaction in the currency.

Masmovil Ibercom, a Spanish telecoms firm, raised €360m through a quickly executed primary share sale on Wednesday evening, allowing the firm to redeem an outstanding convertible bond.